Memory Rewind
by ZigZaggy
Summary: Van Kliess somehow turns Rex back into a 4 year old. He regains all his memories as a 4 year old, but loses all the memories he gained during his 6 years in providence! Read to find out more! No OCs. I do NOT own Generator Rex or any of it's characters.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes: This is my first story, so go easy on me ok? xD**

**Rex is suddenly turned back into a 4 year old, he's regained all his memories as a 4 year old, but lost the five years of memory that he gained in providence! Read to find out more!**

**I do not own Generator Rex or any of it's characters...**

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Six walked along the halls towards the cafeteria. It was 12:30 at night. Unusually he'd be asleep at this time, but for some reason this time was different. His instincts were screaming at him, telling him to keep his eyes peeled, that something bad was about to happen. That's why he had decided to take a stroll around Providence. He was headed to the cafeteria to get himself some coffee while he was at it. Maybe that would ease his nerves, even if he never showed any sign of nervousness.

He had just passed Rex's room two seconds ago. He stopped for a moment, debating with himself whether to check on the EVO boy or not. Deciding against it, he walked on, only to hear a blood curling scream behind him.

"AAAARGH!" That definitely came from Rex and Bobo's room. Six turned around, swords ready, and ran back to the room as fast as he could. He opened the door wide. Bobo was firing his blasters at someone. Guess who that was…

"Biowolf!" Van Kliess called to his metal wolf-like servant. Biowolf grabbed a limp Rex, lifting him from the opening in the wall where his bed was placed. Against the wall there seemed to be a blood stain… Rex's head was bleeding too. Not good…

Bobo tried shooting for Biowolf's head, but Breach was present as well, throwing portals to lead the blasts away from Biowolf and back at Bobo. Six took advantage of the distraction and ran to try and knock her out, preventing their escape.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…!" Van Kliess shouted, grabbing Six's attention. Six stopped and turned to face Van Kliess. Beside him stood Biowolf, holding Rex with one arm, his other hand around Rex's neck. His sharp claws in a position that suggested that he was not afraid to slice Rex's head off with ease. This was not a good situation to be in…

"S-Six…" Rex said weakly. He was obviously too weak to move. "We're going to quietly leave now…" Van Kliess said, interrupting Six's thoughts, "if you dare move, he head come's off." Six was powerless. The look in Van Kliess's eyes made it obvious that he meant business. Six could do nothing but watch, his swords still in his hands as the trio stepped back into a portal Breach had just made, Probably leading back to their base.

As the portal closed behind them, Six retracted his swords and slid them back into his sleeves as he stood strait. He turned and hit a button out in the hallway that sent an emergency siren blaring, the hallways flashing from white to bright red.

**5 minutes later…**

"REX WAS WHAT?!" Caesar screamed, his fingers grabbing at his thick black hair atop his head. Six hadn't expected Caesar to be so shocked. He had just explained to Doctor Holiday, Caesar, and White Knight what had just happened in the debriefing room. Usually Caesar would have just shrugged and said:_ he can take care of himself…_

Six only raised an eyebrow is question, so Caesar continued. "Don't you get it?! That third rate lab hack wanted Rex to get closer to the Meta Nanites before, but now that they're gone, he has no use for him anymore! He's gonna KILL HIM!" Caesar was in full panic now. "Caesar!" White Knight cut him off, "We'll get him back…Six, take as many troops as you need. There are still people somehow turning EVO out there, so we can't afford to lose him." Six nodded. "I'm going too!" said Caesar. Before Six or White Knight could object, Caesar continued. "I can knock them out with my hyper-electromagnet. I was able to use it to get through Providence before, I can use it against EVOs too…"  
"If he's going, so am I. Just in case Rex or anyone else is injured." Added Holiday. White Knight sighed. "Fine, but DON'T drag the rest of the rescue team down…White out."

**Some time later…**

Six and the rest of the team finally arrived to Abysus. Caesar was staring at the direction of Van Kliess's castle. His brother was probably in there now. He might be scared, in pain, injured…or worse…  
"NO!" Caesar hissed at himself under his breath. _Don't think like that, he's probably fine…he HAS to be fine…_

Six noticed Caesar's whisper and his expression. It was obvious that he feared for his brother. After all, he was the only blood related family he had left, if not only his only sibling.

Six kept his expression stoic at all times, but even he felt a little frightened for the kid, although he'd never admit it. He kept telling himself that death was common and could only be prevented for so long…being a mercenary taught him that the hard way.

They left the jets in which they came parked about 3 miles away, deciding to try and sneak into the building to prevent any distraction that might try to stop them from getting inside the castle. They quietly went through the forest, avoiding any EVOs they passed nearby. It was decided that most of the Providence troops would make a big distraction outside, while Bobo, who snuck into one of the jets without anyone noticing, and Holiday would stay guard right outside the castle's laboratory. That way, no one would be able to interrupt the little 'conversation' Six and Caesar were going to have with Van Kliess.

Six quietly hid along with Caesar, Holiday and Bobo in the bushes and tall grass just beyond the castle walls, waiting as the Providence troops prepared some explosives on one of them to try and blow a hole for them to sneak through. Just as they stepped back and it exploded, a horn blew, signalling to the EVOs who occupied the castle to look for and attack the source of the explosion's noise. Caesar quickly ran out from the bushes and inside the castle, without waiting for Six to silently give the signal for everyone to move out.

They all ran in after him, and were shocked to see an EVO already knocked out cold by the scientist's strange weapon. It was massive and looked more like an oversized iguana with a long spiked tail and large belly. Caesar pulled out a bunch of ear muffs from a pouch that hung around the side of his waist. He had one on himself. "Here, I forgot to you give you these. They'll shield you from the effects of my magnet. They all put them on, and continued onward.

After Caesar, Six, Bobo, and Holiday had to knock out a few more EVOs as they continued their way through the castle, They finally got to the lab. Six chopped down the locked wooden doors, and walked in with Caesar, ready for anything that might hit them. Caesar gasped, "Rex…!"  
In front of them, in the middle of the room, lay Rex on a table. He was pinned down by vines wrapped around his wrists, ankles, and waist, breathing hard. He coughed and wheezed a few times, making it obvious that he was having trouble breathing. His head was bandages and had a big blood stain at the back.

"Rex! Rex, can you hear me?" Caesar could barely keep himself from shouting. He gently touched Rex's head. Rex opened his eyes barely more than strips. It looked like he was in pain, but he kept his mouth shut. Caesar guessed that he was trying to supress a scream. That was good, as they didn't want any unwanted attention. Especially not now that they were so close to grabbing him and getting the hell out of there…

Six Started hacking at the vines that held Rex to his table as Caesar studied his little brother to look for injuries other than the wound on his head. There were none. Rex began to whine. He couldn't take it anymore!

Caesar hissed at Six, "We have to get him out of here before he blows our cover!" Six silently nodded. He tried cutting the vines faster. They were so damn thick! "I knew you'd come sooner or later…" Caesar and Six looked up to see Van Kliess, Biowolf, and Skalamander come in from a door at the opposite side of the room. Just then Rex let out a blood curling scream once again. It didn't matter anymore. Their cover had already been blown. He was in more pain than Caesar originally thought. He trembled and struggled against the vines that kept him down, continuing to scream his lungs out.

"What did you do to him?!" Caesar yelled, pointing his weapon at the three before them. Van Kliess only laughed. "Don't worry, he'll live…I hope…" he smirked, angering Caesar even more. An angry Caesar was dangerous…even Six knew that.

Caesar quickly pulled out an extra pair of ear muffs and threw them to Six. "Put these on him!" he ordered. Six did as he was told, slipping them onto the struggling teen's head. Caesar quickly ran towards the three Pack members and activated his weapon, sending sonic waves blasting in their ears. Biowolf quickly fell, but Skalamander managed to shoot a few crystals at Caesar before falling as well. Six quickly stepped in between Caesar and the crystal shards and knocked them away with his twin swords.

The room was suddenly quiet. "Rex…!" Caesar quickly realized that Rex wasn't screaming anymore. Six noticed that Van Kliess wasn't on the floor with the two other unconscious Pack members. Both Six and Caesar quickly turned to see Van Kliess at the table behind them where Rex lay…Except Rex was no longer there…

Instead, the table was empty, vines lying limply on it. Van Kliess was holding something…no, some**_one_** small in his arms. A little boy. He was wrapped in what was obviously Rex's shirt. Rex's pants and jacket were still on the table. "See? I told you he'd live…" Van Kliess chuckled quietly, as if afraid to wake the sleeping child in his arms. He seemed to be no older than three or four years old.

"How did you…?!" Caesar began, but Van Kliess quickly cut him off. "Ah ah ah…! You don't want to wake the poor baby do you?" He snickered. Caesar was about to use his weapon, but Six quickly stopped him, pointing to the now little Rex. Caesar saw that his brother was no longer wearing the ear muffs. "Stand down…or the little boy gets hurt…" Van Kliess smirked, pointing his golden, spiked fingers at the tiny boy's chest.

"If you dare hurt him, I'll…" Caesar began, but Van Kliess cut him off again. "You'll what? Glare at me to death? Just admit it, Caesar…for once, you've actually run out of ideas!"  
Caesar looked around the room for anything that might help in their current situation, but found nothing. Van Kliess was right…he had nothing.

All of a sudden, a figure rocketed past Van Kliess, snatching the child from his arms. It was Bobo! The monkey had taken advantage of Van Kliess's focus on the two men before him. Just as Van Kliess was about to try and lengthen his golden arm to snatch the boy back, something knocked him on the back of the head so hard that he fell forward, out cold. Behind him, Doctor Holiday appeared, A dead branch in her hands that she used almost like a baseball bat.

"You guys were taking too long…" She stated. Bobo came over to the three, handing Rex to Caesar. Caesar looked at his brother, confusion and disbelief showing on his face. _It really is him…_He thought to himself.

Six snapped him back to focus. "We need to retreat while we still can…" he said stoically. They quickly made their way back the way they came, going through the hole that the troops had made earlier. Outside, they found many soldiers and EVOs on the ground, wounded or just unconscious. Thankfully, there seemed to be no dead among the Providence agents, as all the people on the floor were taken back to the ships as Six called for a retreat.

Inside the Keep, the injured were tended to. Caesar held Rex as Doctor Holiday removed the bandages wrapped loosely around his head and inspected what was underneath. He had refused to put Rex down or let anyone touch him, but he had to let Holiday check his brother to make sure he was okay. Holiday looked up from her little patient. "He's going to be fine. It seems like Van Kliess already stitched him up and everything." She finally said. Caesar was relieved.

Rex slowly opened his eyes. Everything was…big…  
"Eh…Ehmano…?" Rex mumbled with his squeaky children's voice. Caesar flinched a little. "Mijo? Are you okay?" Caesar asked, his voice filled with worry. "My…head hurts…where's mommy and pappy…?" Rex asked. Caesar's eyes widened and he looked up at Holiday and Six, who had just noticed that something was wrong and came closer to see what was going on. "Rex? Do you remember Holiday…or Six?" Caesar asked. "N-no…?" Rex replied. He shut his eyes, unable to keep them open.

Six's eyebrows rose over his sunglasses in concern. As if almost losing the boy to his giant robot form wasn't enough…


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I think I'm gonna bring the rating up to T for the last part of this chapter XD.**

Chapter 2

Six stood there for a moment, unable to move…unable to speak. It was like his brain suddenly stopped working. Doctor Holiday and Caesar's lips were moving, probably talking to the now 4 year-old Rex. Six couldn't hear what they were saying. All he could hear was the conversation he had with Rex before he defeated Black Knight and the Consortium.

_'you should know something…we believe that this is the type of thing that ends in you losing your memory.' Six had told him. 'But it happened to you, and you turned out just fine…' Rex argued._ '_I only lost six years…six years are all you have. You would lose everything…"_

And indeed he just lost everything…everything they had together as a family constructed during the six years that he lived with providence along with Six, Holiday, and Bobo…an eventually Caesar. All those precious memories were gone now. And even though Six himself didn't remember most of them, he still enjoyed listening to Rex tell him about all their adventures fighting EVOs together, diving into treacherous waters and discovering new creatures living there, and Six chasing after Rex every time he ran away.

But all that was gone now. Maybe forever. He couldn't believe what had happened, but mostly, he couldn't believe how attached to the boy he had become just within half a year from the time he lost six years of his memory. He was a former mercenary for crying out loud! Since when did his kind ever get attached to anyone?!

The sound of a crying child snapped him back to reality. Four-year-old Rex was crying hard into his brother's shoulder, and Caesar himself was fighting back tears. He patted Rex's back and bounced him lightly up and down in his arms, trying to calm his little brother down. Rex was confused and scared. His head felt like it was pounding.

Six could do nothing but watch. He hadn't moved a muscle since he noticed that Rex had forgotten him, which concerned Doctor Holiday. "Six…?" Holiday looked at him, placing a hand on his arm, trying to get his attention. Six hardly even noticed. He stared at the two brothers for a few seconds, then turned on his heels and left the room.

**Back at Providence Base…**

Caesar carried a sleeping Rex back to his room. It was much bigger than Rex and Bobo's room, but it looked more like a mini lab rather than a bed room. The only thing that could have possibly shown any sign of it actually being one was the bed in the middle of the room and the small bedside table next to it. Caesar pulled back the messy covers, placed Rex in the Bed, and brought the covers back up to his chin. He kissed his little brother's head and went to the bathroom to take a long hot shower. When he came back out, Rex was still there on the bed. He was small and vulnerable. Not the strong 16 year old he was last night. Caesar had almost forgotten what had happened that day.

He quickly got dressed and walked out of the room, making sure to lock the door behind him. He prayed that his little brother wouldn't wake up before he came back, for this Rex was nothing like the teenage Rex. Teenage Rex was confident and daring. Little Rex was shy and trusted very few people. He was also very scared of the dark and being alone. Caesar knew that if he was to wake up now, he would surely freak! He walked through the halls, deep in thought. He thought of why he had almost cried when he learned that Rex had remembered his life up until he was four and forgot everything about his life starting six years ago. Was it because he was happy that Rex remembered, or sad because he had lost 11 years of growing up? He had no idea.

Caesar suddenly stopped. What did he feel about Rex forgetting Providence? About forgetting Six and Holiday and Bobo? The family that he had made for himself, to replace the one he hardly knew. Caesar realized that he actually felt guilty…Although he never said it, he always hated the way his younger brother loved Six like a father and Holiday as a mother (but only after her sister was cured), replacing their real parents. He always felt jealous because Rex spent more time with Six than him, his own brother.

But Caesar remembered how Six looked when he was trying to calm the bawling 4-year-old Rex. He noticed how Six froze after he said that he didn't remember him, and how Six left a minute later, as if unable to take the pain anymore. It was the first time Caesar had seen any emotion on that man's face.

Caesar flinched, suddenly feeling a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to find Captain Callen. "I heard the news…" He said, feeling sorry for the tired scientist. "the White Knight's wait'n for ya…" Caesar nodded, and let him lead the way to the debriefing room. Caesar walked into the room, finding Holiday and Six already there. Captain Callen stayed outside as the door closed behind him. After explaining what had happened to Rex, the room suddenly fell silent.

White Knight finally broke the silence. "What about his nanites? Are they still functional?" he asked. "We haven't been able to check him yet." Holiday answered. "Well? What are you waiting for? Shouldn't you have checked him right away when you got back from your mission?"  
"We were going to, but he was confused and scared and tired. We decided to let him rest then…"

"Go check him _now._" He cut her off.  
Holiday opened her mouth to object, but Caesar beat her to it. "No…" He glared at White Knight. "Excuse me, Salazar?" White glared back. "I gave you an order…"

"Well I'm not following it. And before you say that you'll fire me, I don't care. I have another project I'm working on anyway. AND…" he added before White could speak, "If you dare try and make Rex get up as tired as he is now and get a check-up, then I swear that I'd take him and leave Providence forever…"

Six couldn't believe it. The idiot was actually threatening White Knight…  
"And you think that Providence wouldn't find you?" White continued.  
"It's easy to jam Rex's biometrics signal. And if you do manage to find us, I could easily take you down just like the first day I came here. Then we'd just move again…"

White Knight and Caesar fell silent, trying to stare each other down. White Knight sighed. "Fine. We'll wait until tomorrow, _then_ check his nanites." He finally said. White Knight disappeared off screen, and Caesar walked past Holiday and Six, barely noticing as they stared at him until he was out of the room.

Caesar entered the passcode onto the lock and watched the doors to his room swish open. He turned on the lights and leaned against the door after it closed. He tilted his head up and sighed. He didn't expect his threat against White Knight to work. It was a risk, but it was worth it. Rex was more important than anything to him, and he wasn't going to let the White Knight push him around even as a little kid.

"Ehmano?" Rex squeaked, peering over the covers of the bed. Caesar jumped. He hadn't realized that Rex was awake. Rex had fresh tears running down his face. He must have been awake and frightened for some time now. "Oh, mijo! I'm so sorry I left you here alone!" he said, sitting beside him on the bed and hugging his little brother. "And how many times have I told you that it's 'Errrrrrr-Mano'" Caesar said, rolling his Rs as he combed his little brother's hair with his fingers and wiped his tears with his other hand. Rex sniffed, giving a weak smile. "Hermano, where were you?" he asked.

Caesar frowned. "I was doing something important, mijo. I wasn't gone for that long. Sorry you woke up while I wasn't here." Rex looked at him up and down. "Caesar? You're bigger than yesterday!" Rex exclaimed. Uh oh…how could he possibly explain something like that?

"Uh…I uh…Growth spurt?" He shrugged. Rex raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. Caesar yawned as well. "well, hermano, I'm tired. How about we take a nap?" Before Rex could even complain that he just woke up, Caesar was already tucking him back in and they both fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows.

**4 ½ hours later…**

Rex woke up feeling refreshed. He looked around the room the he and his older brother were sleeping in. It was almost like the room that Caesar owned in their house in Switzerland, full of inventions made by the genius that was Caesar, both small and big. Rex always enjoyed watching his brother work while he often sat beside him drawing and coloring pictures for Caesar to hang on his walls. He remembered how Caesar often made new inventions and chased him around with them, laughing evilly and pretending to be a mad scientist. Rex considered waking his older brother to play, but saw how tired he looked and decided not to.

Rex pulled back the covers and got of the bed, walking towards the door. It was huge and metallic. Rex realized that the walls were different too. The pictures that he drew for his brother ever since he was two were no longer there, and instead of being the color of a bright blue sky, they were a dull white. Rex finally realized that this wasn't Caesar's room in their family's house. Rex felt a bit uneasy and decided to wake his brother after all. He climbed back up on the bed and shook his sleeping older brother. "Caesar, Caesar!" He called "Caesar, wake up!"

"Mmm…" Caesar mumbled, too tired to even open his eyes. "Five more minutes…"  
"Caesar! Where are we? This isn't your room!" Rex called, struggling to keep his brother awake. "Yes it is…" Caesar mumbled. "Go bother mammy and pappy, Rex…"  
Caesar was too drowsy and half asleep to realize his mistake. He was having a dream about Rex trying to wake him up when he was 14 years old, which was exactly what Rex still thought his age was. Except that he was much taller, and in reality, 6 years older than that. So Rex decided to do just that. He decided to go look for their parents. Surely they'd have an explanation to where they were.

Rex slipped off the bed once again and walked up the door. There were no handles, so how was he supposed to open it? Rex spotted a button on the right side of the door frame. Rex was small. Smaller than most 4 year olds, so when he reached up to press it, he failed miserably. After jumping up and down a few times, he was finally able to press it and the doors swished open. Rex quickly walked out, and the doors closed right behind him, locking him out. Now what?

Rex looked around, debating on whether to go right or left. He saw something at the corner of his eye, walking past the corner on the right. Rex quickly ran too see what it was. At first he thought it was a short hairy man, but he quickly realised that it was a monkey! He had never seen a real live monkey before! But this monkey was different. It walked like a human and was wearing cloths like they did in the cartoons. He remembered Caesar telling him that in real life, jungle animals didn't wear clothes or talk or walk like humans at all. Rex couldn't wait for Caesar to wake up so he could prove him wrong.

Before Rex could notice what he was doing, he was already following the monkey around, turning many corners yet keeping at a safe distance, not daring to go any closer to it. The monkey seemed to be going faster, however. Rex could barely keep up, and before he knew it, he lost the monkey. Rex decided to go back to Caesar's room. He turned around many corners, but all the hallways looked the same. Rex was lost…  
Rex began to whimper. He crouched down into a ball, his head resting on his knees. He was scared and didn't know what to do. Rex began to sob.

Caesar woke up to find the covers messy and empty. He felt like he forgot something. Something important…He tried to concentrate and searched his brain for what he could have possibly forgotten. Suddenly, all the memories from earlier today hit him. "REX!"

Rex was gone! He must have woken up and slipped out while Caesar was still asleep. Caesar began to panic. Providence base was a huge place and Rex no longer new his way around. It was so easy for Caesar to get lost on his first days, and Rex was probably out there somewhere, scared and alone in the vast hallways of the base. Caesar ran out of the room, not caring to change out of his pyjamas.

Caesar may have gotten lost before, but he knew his way around well now. He ran all the way to Six's room and knocked on the door. At first there was no answer, so Caesar pounded his fists on the door so hard that his hands began to hurt. The door swished open to reveal a tired looking Six with an untied tie and his suit jacket off. "What?" He glared, obviously annoyed. "He…He's GONE!" Caesar panted. "I..I just woke up he just WASN'T THERE!"  
Although Caesar would have never noticed it, Six's eyes widened behind his sunglasses. He quickly grabbed his swords and ran out. "Get Bobo and Holiday and fan out!" he called behind his shoulder as he ran around a corner. Caesar nodded and ran the opposite direction. He stopped at Rex and Bobo's room, but the monkey wasn't there. He continued on his way to the lab and told Holiday what he told Six.

"WHAT?! How could you possibly have lost your own BROTHER?!" She screamed.

"I thought he was too short to reach the door's open button!" Caesar replied. Holiday didn't answer. She quickly turned on the microphone and made an announcement. "Attention all troops! Rex Salazar has been lost in the building. We need everyone to look for him and report his location to the lab at once!" She called.

**Meanwhile…**

Rex had finally calmed down after a few minutes of sobbing. He was tired of waiting for someone to find him as he cried. He decided to keep walking. Maybe he'd come by his brother, or at least someone who knew where to find him…

Rex kept going until the speakers suddenly blared with a woman's panicked call: "Attention all troops! Rex Salazar has been lost in the building. We need everyone to look for him and report his location to the lab at once!"  
Rex felt so relieved to hear someone call his name! He guessed that his brother must have woken up, noticed he was gone, and went looking for him. Rex began to run, filled with new hope that he'd reach someone out looking for him in the long hallways that seemed to stretch forever. He ran and ran until he just had to stop to catch his breath.

Rex looked around, confused. He still hadn't come across anyone in the halls. Hadn't they heard the announcement, or had they simply chosen to ignore it? Rex looked to his right and saw a set of even bigger doors than that of his brother's room. On the door frame was a keypad. Rex knew what a keypad was, for his parents always used it when they went to work, often taking Rex and Caesar with them. There was no going into that room…

Suddenly, Rex felt dizzy. He stumbled, leaning onto the big doors. A few images flashed before Rex's eyes of the man that wore green with sunglasses, the pretty scientist lady, and the monkey. For a second, he realized that he could almost remember them. Their names were at the tip of his tongue for a split second, but then he forgot it. Lines of blue started snaking out of Rex's hand on onto the large doors, and they suddenly swished open, making Rex fall to the other side. Just as he got up, the doors swished closed. Rex gulped. If he had gotten up any later, his legs would have been crushed. He looked around him and gasped.

The room was HUGE and was filled with tall trees, bushes, and tall grass. Rex remembered that in the cartoons, the monkeys and other talking animals lived in the jungle. He guessed that this was the home of the monkey he saw earlier. _Maybe if I find the monkey, he'll tell me how to get back to Caesar!_ He thought.

The further Rex walked, the deeper the jungle became. Rex could hear millions of birds chirping and singing, but no monkeys. He wondered where he might be able to find such a short monkey in such a large forest. Rex walked until he reached a small clearing. At first there seemed to be nothing there, until he noticed the pink rabbits hopping around, eating some of the grass. Rex gasped. "Pink Bunnies!" He exclaimed, excited. He ran over to one and petted its fur. For a moment the animal stood still, then it turned to look at little Rex. He was baffled to see that it had a set of massive sharp teeth! Only then did he truly notice how large the creature really was. It wasn't cute at all. It was downright frightening! Rex stumbled back a few steps and fell, letting out a shrill scream…

**At the Same time…**

Two providence troops walked along a path in the Petting Zoo, guns ready for anything that might come at them. They were keeping an eye out just in case the young Rex had somehow managed to slip into the massive jungle, although they both doubted it.

They both jumped as they heard a child's scream, coming from the other side of the Petting Zoo. They quickly called Holiday on the communicator, running in the scream's direction as fast as they possibly could.

Holiday quickly called Six and screamed through the communicator. "SIX! He's in the petting zoo!"  
"Roger that." He replied stoically, although on the inside, he was worried sick! He ran as fast as he could down the hallway and into the Petting Zoo, heading towards the coordinates that Doctor Holiday was screaming to him through his earpiece. Six finally got to the clearing. He saw Rex, his back against a tall rock to the right of the clearing. Before him stood a giant pink rabbit. Six quickly place himself between the rabbit and Rex, Swords ready.

The rabbit lunged, its sharp teeth gleaming in the artificial light that filled the Zoo. Six lifted his sword in a blocking position as the rabbit bit down. Instead of grabbing his flesh, it grabbed the sword. Six almost smiled to himself, that is until he unexpectedly got swiped up by one of its claws. Six flew in the air, his sunglasses flying from his face. "SIX!" Rex screamed, suddenly remembering the man's name. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember anything about him but his name…

Six landed a few feet behind the rock, and stayed down. Rex looked at Six and back up at the rabbit. It was his turn. Rex could do nothing but stare, frozen, unable to even breathe as the rabbit raised its left claw to strike in slow motion. Suddenly, the rabbit screamed in pain. It had been shot at from behind. The rabbit quickly turned and swiped the two Providence troops to the side, knocking the guns away from them both. It turned back to Rex, determined to get rid of him first. It raised its claw again, but just as it was about to strike.

Six jumped out of nowhere and stuck both of his swords into its eyes. Six let the rabbit fall, then sliced at its chest. He kept slicing and slicing until he finally decided to just deliver the finishing blow. Six turned around, and Rex caught sight of his face at that chilling moment. There were blood splatters all over his face, and his glasses were off. His eyes were wide and frightening. It was the first time Rex had ever seen the eyes of a killer…


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Thanks to everyone that liked this story and commented on it! I hope you like this one as well! I also added a cute little innocent Rex part with Six as a special treat to you all!**

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Caesar ran towards the Petting Zoo as soon as Holiday called him on his earpiece. Soon, he finally reached the clearing where Rex was. Rex was sitting on the floor against a tall rock to the right of the clearing, and he was staring wide eyed at something before him, trembling. Caesar could make out the sparkle of tears as they ran down his small baby face. He quickly turned his gaze to see what he was looking at. What he saw shocked him. Six was standing in a pool of blood seeping from a giant creature not too far from where Rex was. It was so disfigured that he could barely make out what the creature was. All he could tell was that it was some kind of mammal. Six was splashed with blood all over his white shirt and green trousers, his tie barely hanging around his neck. He looked seriously horrified, as if he did something horribly wrong as he stared back at Rex. The swords in his hands were both dripping with crimson blood.

The situation before Caesar suddenly clicked in his mind, sending off alarm bells in his brain. He could feel a terrible chill run down his spine as he realized that Six had done something that would probably scar his little brother for life. Rex had witnessed him kill an EVO…

The look on Rex's face suggested that it was the most brutal of deaths. "Mijo…?" Caesar gasped. Rex didn't even respond. He only let out a small sigh as his head hit the ground. Caesar ran blindly toward Rex, skinning his knees as he slid on them, scooping his brother off the ground. "REX! REX!" he screamed, shaking his brother. He looked up at Six. "What have you done…?" he hissed.

Six didn't even move. He just kept staring at them both. Caesar wasn't waiting for an answer anyway. He got up and ran towards the exit, heading to the infirmary. Even as they left, Six stood still, staring at the spot where they once were. Only after he heard the shaking of bushes and tall grass signalling that they had left, he moved and walked almost sluggishly to where his sunglasses lay. He picked them up and slipped them over his eyes, hiding them from the world once again. That was the reason that he kept his eyes hidden. So that no one would see the eyes of a killer. You never know when he had to act on pure instinct and kill something.

Six felt terrible. He knew that no child should have ever seen him or anyone kill anything. Especially not a 4 year old. Rex was practically a baby! He heard a faint moaning coming from between the bushes to his left._ Oh, right…the troops…_Six realized that he was going to have to help them get to the infirmary, although all he felt like doing was leaving to his room and collapsing onto his bed never to wake up again. He turned to the source of the sound and let the troops both lean on him for support as they slowly walked to the infirmary. Six didn't mind the pace that they were walking at. He didn't want to be in the same room as the boy whom he just spooked half to death. Nor did he want to see his brother who had all the right to blame him for it.

Doctor Holiday watched in horror at the screen which showed everything that had happened in the Petting Zoo. She had seen how Six killed the giant rabbit EVO, and how Rex had passed out soon after. She heard the door swish open as Caesar ran inside toward the table on which she usually checked Rex. After a thorough check up, she finally sighed in relief, happy that he wasn't at all hurt. "Physically, he's just fine. But emotionally…" She began.  
"Only time could tell…" He finished her sentence. Holiday nodded and stepped away from the unconscious Rex. "I think you should probably take him back to your room. Let him rest there."

Caesar nodded. He took Rex in his arms once again and walked back to his room. He place Rex back onto the bed and tucked him in, combing his little brother's hair with his fingers.

_Damn Six. What was he thinking!? He wasn't thinking. He was too busy trying to protect Rex…It was your own damn fault that you weren't keeping an eye on him well enough. I was your fault that he managed to slip out of the room and get himself lost! You should have stayed awake! You should have been there to protect him at all times. He's YOUR brother! He shouldn't even BE Six's responsibility anymore!_

The guilt was eating him alive! How could he have been so stupid?

All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door. Caesar spun around, startled. Who would be knocking on the door now of all times? He sluggishly walked towards the door and opened it. Six stood at the doorway. They stared at each other for a few seconds, then Six broke the silence. "Is he…ok?" He asked. Caesar paused for a moment, then answered. "Physically, yes. But we can't know how he is emotionally until he wakes up…"

Six shifted his weight to his other leg and nodded. They stood in silence for a few seconds. Caesar didn't invite him in. "I'm sorry…" It was barely a whisper, but Caesar heard it. He looked up at Six's face, and realized that the guilt was eating Six just as much as it was eating him. Maybe even more…

"It wasn't your fault." He said. "It was mine. I should have taken better care of him. You were only doing your job and protecting him. I'm probably the worst brother on the face of the earth…"

Six looked up at him, surprised. He wasn't expecting that. He thought that Caesar blamed him for everything that had just happened. Looks like he was wrong. "It was no one's fault…" A voice said behind him. Caesar jumped. He hadn't even noticed Holiday standing behind Six. "It's not your fault that your brother woke up while you were still asleep and got out. But from now on, we need to keep a better eye on him. Rex is very energetic, and for some reason, Van Kliess still wants him. We need to make sure that he goes nowhere near him." She said calmly.

Both Six and Caesar nodded in agreement. She was right. Van Kliess was up to something. They still had no idea why or how he had managed to turn Rex into a 4 year old. All they knew was that they needed to protect the now vulnerable Rex from anything that he might through at him.

Suddenly a whimper was heard from inside Caesar's room. Rex was stirring. Caesar looked back over his shoulder, then turned to Holiday and Six. "I think it's time for us to leave…" Holiday said, putting a hand Six's arm. Six said nothing, but followed her around the corner of the hall. Caesar turned around and walked into the dark room.

Rex gasped and shot up into a sitting position on the bed. He started gasping for air as he nervously looked around him. Caesar was sitting on the bed next to him. Rex jammed his face into Caesar's chest, knocking the wind out of his brother as he hung onto him. "I had the worst dream ever!" he sobbed.

Caesar opened his mouth to say that it wasn't a dream, but shut his mouth as soon as he thought it. _Why not? Wouldn't it be easier for all of us if he thought it was just some bad dream?_

"Shhhh, mijo…there's no need to be scared. I'm here…" Caesar soothed. _I'll never let this happen ever again…I promise…_He continued in his head. "Do you want to talk about it?"  
Rex nodded and told him everything that happened to him in his 'dream'. When he got to the part where Six killed the rabbit, he sobbed harder. Rex was seriously spooked.

"You know, I think he was only trying to protect you…" Caesar told him after he had calmed him down once again. Rex looked up at his brother. "B-but he killed it…" he stuttered.  
"Mijo, if he didn't, you would have been k…I mean hurt." Caesar pinched himself, reminding himself that Rex was younger and he needed to choose his words wisely.

That made Rex think for a while. "Do you really think so…?" he looked back up at his brother. "I know so." Caesar replied. "Six is a very good person…"_even though he threatened to kill me twice…_ "and he's always there to protect the people around him."

Rex's eyes lit up with excitement. "you mean he's a super hero?!" Rex shouted.  
"Shhhh! Its late." Caesar hissed. Indeed the day had gone by very quickly. It was already 9:00 pm. "Listen, if you go back to sleep right now, I promise that I'll take you to ask him yourself. How does that sound?"

Caesar could have sworn that his brother probably woke half of Providence up because of the way he screamed "YES! AWESOME!" As if he'd forgotten how terrifying Six had been in his 'dream'. Rex quickly lay down and pulled the blankets up to his chin. As Caesar lay down beside him, Rex came closer to his brother and snuggled next to him. He gave Caesar a quick peck on the cheek. "good night, mi Eh-mano mayor."  
"good night, mi Errrrr-mano pequeño." Caesar replied and Rex giggled.

It still took some time for Rex to sleep that night, but Caesar was just glad that he was fine. As soon as he thought that what happened that day was truly just a bad dream, Rex seemed to calm down. Making him think that Six was a super hero and realize that he could meet him made him even better. When Rex was finally asleep, Caesar felt so much more at ease. He closed his eyes and fell asleep soon after with a smile on his face.

**The next day…**

Six woke up and sat up in his bed. He didn't really feel like he wanted to get up at all. He considered calling in sick or something, but decided against it. Not showing up to work would give Providence troops something to talk about, and his long streak of showing up to work on time would be broken. Six? Not showing up for work because he's _sick?_ The man fought EVOs for a living!

Six sluggishly went to the bathroom, bushed his teeth, shaved, quickly got dressed and left the room as he adjusted his tie. He walked along the long halls of Providence base all the way to his office, and sat down behind his desk, glaring at the pile of paperwork that stalked him every day. Well, he had to do it sooner or later. Six sighed and got started on one of the many papers, until he heard the sound of giggling on the other side of his door. He straightened up in his chair and called "come in…"

Caesar opened the door and walked in. He was holding little Rex up in his arms. Once Rex looked at Six, he immediately quieted and his chubby baby face became pale. Six recognised the symptoms of fear and he felt a pang of guilt. What was Caesar thinking, bringing Rex to the very person who killed a living being right before his eyes? Six watched as Rex quickly hid his face at the base of Caesar's neck, refusing to be put down. Six decided to just keep himself busy with his paperwork. Eventually, Caesar managed to get his brother on the ground, but he didn't look up from his paper work, not willing to scare Rex with just a look.

Six stayed like that for a while. Everything was quiet. He heard the sound of Caesar sitting down on one of the chairs next to the desk. Six looked up to grab another paper, when he noticed a set of big brown eyes peeking at him above the desk. Rex was so tiny he had stand on his toes to look over the desk. When he noticed Six looking back at him, he froze and paled again.  
"Well? Are you going to ask him, or do you want me to?" Caesar asked, urging his brother to hurry.

_Ask me? Ask me what?_ He raised an eyebrow at Caesar. Caesar just smiled and nodded, signalling Six to be patient and give Rex some time.  
"Umm…a-are you a super hero?" Rex asked innocently. That caught Six off guard.  
"What?" He asked and Rex paused before he repeated his question. "Are you a super hero?"  
"No…"  
"But Caesar told me that you save people and fight monsters…" Rex replied, straining to keep himself up on his toes.  
Six paused. Caesar said that? But Six threatened to kill him…_twice!_  
"Yes, that part is true…" He replied.  
"Then you _are_ a super hero!" Rex said, smiling. Six couldn't help but smile back.  
"But I don't have super powers." Six said.  
"So? Fire fighters don't have super powers, but they're still super heroes…" Rex replied. Six suddenly felt something strange in his chest. Something…warm. Something he never felt before.

A silence stretched between them for a moment, then Rex interrupted his thoughts again. "C-can I see your eyes?" he said, almost shrinking back behind the desk. His face had returned to a deathly pale. Six froze. His eyes? Why on earth would he ever want to see his eyes again after what happened…He looked to Caesar, and Caesar just stared back. The question caught him off guard too. Six debated with himself for a moment, then slowly brought his hand up to his glasses. Rex seemed to hold his breath as Six slid the glasses of his face, closing his eyes. When he opened his eyes and looked at Rex, the boy gasped. _I knew this was a bad idea!_

"Your eyes aren't scary at all!" Rex said. Six let out a deep breath. He hadn't realized that he was holding it in. "I had a bad dream last night. I saw you with scary eyes, but they're not scary in real life…" Rex continued. _A bad dream…?_ Six looked at Caesar, who looked away.

Six grabbed his mug of coffee and took a sip. "One more question…are you a leprechaun too?" Rex asked, tilting his head to the side. Six almost spit out his coffee but forced himself to swallow it and choked instead. Caesar was laughing his head off, and Rex stood there confused.

"Why on earth would you think that?" Six said after he had finally gotten control over his coughing. "Because you're wearing a green suit like one…" Rex said.  
_That's it…I'm going shopping tomorrow…_Six thought. "I'm a little too tall to be a leprechaun aren't I?" he asked stoically. Six had been called many things in Providence. Agro nanny, green man, green ninja, agent smith from the matrix…but leprechaun? That was a bit much.

"Mijo, how about we go and let the super hero finish his work?" Caesar told Rex, trying not to laugh any more. Six shot him a look that said _try harder._ "Awww…do we have to?" Rex pleaded, willing to stay around. "Yes, Mijo." Caesar replied, grabbing his hand and heading towards the door. When he opened it, Rex gasped in excitement and ran out. "Caesar it's the monkey I saw in the dream!" Rex said, running towards a confused monkey. "dat's Mr. Monkey to you, pip squeak." The monkey said with attitude. Rex screamed, immediately turning around and ran to his brother's side, hiding behind his legs. "SEE?! I told you animals could talk!" He said, clinging to his brother. Caesar just laughed.

_Good…something to distract him…_Six thought. He got up from his chair and walked toward the two brothers. "Bobo, go play with Rex and keep an eye on him. I need to talk to Caesar." He said. The monkey smiled. The green man was actually giving him permission to be a bad influence. "Come on, kid. Da grownups need ta talk." He said, grabbing Rex's hand and taking him around the corner.

Caesar turned to Six, who raised an eyebrow. Caesar rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. "He woke up yesterday thinking that it was all a dream, so I decided to just keep him thinking that…" He answered in a whisper. Six stayed silent for a few seconds, then answered: "thanks."  
"For what?"  
"For telling him I was a super hero."  
Caesar shrugged, smiling. "Anything to make him forget yesterday's events." His smile disappeared. "We checked his biometrics, and they're completely flat lined. The last thing he remembers is the party we had when he was 4 years old at summer in Mexico at our abuela's house. He even still thinks I'm 14 years old and somehow grew so much taller overnight." He paused for a few seconds and looked away. "He asked me where our parents were and I couldn't tell him what happened to them. I told him that they were away for work and left us here for the rest of summer vacation…"

Six had nothing to say to that. What could he possibly say, anyway? He just stayed silent, and Caesar kept looking at his feet. Caesar's shoulders were slumped, and he looked like he was in pain. _It's hard to lose those you love…_Six thought. He remembered how hard it was when Rex had told him that One had died. He remembered how angry at himself he was when he realized that he couldn't remember that he was _there_ when he died, and Rex could.

Suddenly, a siren blared and the hallways began to flash from white to red. From a screen nearby, White Knight's face appeared, glaring down at Six and Caesar. "Guess what…" He said sarcastically, his brows knitted together in anger. "The monkey took him on a stroll?" Six answered, stoically. "Get him back **_now_**…" White said, his face disappearing off screen.

Rex hung on for dear life as the monkey drove the stolen providence truck way over the speed limit. Rex was thankful that he decided to do what his parents always told him to and put the seatbelt on. In no time, they had reached the city and were on their way to get some burritos from a Mexican restaurant. Bobo hit the brakes so hard at the parking lot near the basketball court that Rex screamed, thinking that the truck was going to roll over. It didn't however, and they stayed in the car a few seconds, their hearts racing. "well, come on, pip squeak, the restaurant's right around the corner…" The monkey said as he got out of the truck. Rex thought that the monkey was crazy for going so fast, but he didn't want to be left alone, so decided to follow him anyway.

As the two walked inside, Rex looked around the place. He felt that it was so familiar, yet at the same time, he doubted he'd been there. He followed Bobo to the counter, and the monkey whispered to him to tell the woman at the register to get them two jumbo spicy burrito combos and some cola. Rex did as he was told and they looked for an empty table to sit down as they waited for their number to be called.

As they waited, Rex looked at all the people around him. He saw a few families with children 'his own age' and immediately wished the monkey let him bring his brother with them on their little trip. Rex continued to look at each table until he caught sight of a teenage boy with blond hair and blue eyes. He was sitting with a girl at a table across the room to their left. There was an empty table right next to theirs. He took Bobo's hand and walked all the way to the table and sat there.

Rex couldn't help but stare at the boy and the girl who seemed to be his girlfriend. He concentrated on trying to remember where he had seen him before. He seemed so familiar. He knew him somehow. His name started with an N…No…No…  
"Noah?" Rex said, looking at the boy. The boy stopped talking to the girl before him and turned to look at Rex. "Yeah? Do I know you? Oh! Hey, Bobo!" He said.

Rex's head started to feel like it was pounding. He let his elbows rest on the table and clutched his head in his hands. Images flashed before his eyes, this time of the blond boy. Rex could see himself bouncing a basketball at the court where they parked the truck, but he was taller…his hands were bigger…He could see himself playing basketball with the boy, throwing the ball at the net, but failing miserably.

"Have you seen Rex? He didn't show up at the basketball court yesterday. And who's the kid?" Rex heard the boy say. He began to whimper, cutting the boy off. He heard the boy get up and come closer to him. "Hey, are you ok?" he asked, seeming a little worried. Noah couldn't help but feel like he knew the child. He looked at Bobo, confused. Bobo opened his mouth to explain, but Rex cut him off. "Bobo…I want Eh-mano…" He said weakly. Rex's eyes suddenly started to glow blue. Noah stepped back, afraid that he was going EVO.

Instead, Rex looked up at him. "N-Noah? What are you doing here in Abysus?" Rex asked him, confused. He looked around him. _Wait…this isn't Abysus…_He thought. "Why are my hands so small? Why is my voice so squeaky? Why are you all so big?" He asked out loud. Memories starting from the day he became smaller until the present suddenly came rushing to him, and he felt overwhelmed. Rex's head hit the table hard as he passed out for two seconds, then he woke up again. "Chief? You ok?" Bobo asked, concerned. Rex just blinked at him. His eyes were no longer glowing, and he could remember that something happened two seconds ago, but couldn't remember what. All he wanted now was to go back to the protection of his brother. He felt scared and confused, and his head was _pounding_. He just wanted to go home to Switzerland with Caesar and find his parents there, waiting for them. Tears began to roll down Rex's chubby cheeks and he began to cry.

Everyone in the restaurant noticed the crying 4 year old. They all stared, wondering what was going on. Bobo sighed. "Okay, Okay! We're goin'!" He whispered to Rex, wishing him to calm down. Claire came over toward Rex and gently pushed Noah aside. She placed a hand on Rex's tiny shoulder. "There, there. Is your head hurting?" She said, patting his shoulder. Rex sniffed and nodded. "Well you probably shouldn't cry then. That'll just make it hurt more." She told him calmly. Rex nodded again, sniffing and wiping away his tears. He let her lift him up and rested his head on her shoulder. She was pretty, but not as pretty as the scientist lady he met at Providence, or whatever Caesar called that place.

Just then, Caesar came rushing through the restaurant's door. "Rex?" He called. As soon as he heard his call, Rex turned around. He caught sight of his brother and reached out to him. Caesar quickly grabbed him and lifted him up. "I wanna go home…" Rex whispered into his ear. Six came in and stood beside them. "We're going back to Providence, Rex." Caesar replied, glaring down at Bobo. _Yeash…and I thought Six was deadly…_Bobo thought with a nervous smile.

Noah and Claire's eyes widened. "R-Rex? _That's _Rex?" Noah asked in disbelief. Caesar nodded. "Caesar, you should probably take Rex back to providence. I can explain what happened to him." Six said stoically. "As for you, he looked at Bobo. "You are going to clean all of Providence's men's rooms for a week."  
"Hey, come on! I didn't do anything dat bad!" Bobo complained.  
Six raised an eyebrow. "You kidnapped a 4 year old child and took him out without permission, knowing full well that he is in a weakened state and Van Kliess is still after him. Sound bad enough now?" He replied.

"I'm going back now. I'll see you later." Caesar said, taking Rex and leaving the restaurant.

Six explained everything to Noah and Claire, and they then explained what happened to Six. Six's eyebrows rose over his sunglasses. This  
was important. Rex had returned to his normal self for a moment…or at least mentally he did. That meant that there was still hope. They could still get Rex back! He quickly regained control over his emotions, returning to his stoic expression. He then thanked Noah and Claire and took Bobo, then drove the truck back to Providence. Although he would never admit it, Six felt so relieved. He was going to get Caesar and Holiday and tell them the news…


	4. Chapter 4

**Authr's note: More VK as some of you requested!**

* * *

That same day, after Six had parked the truck in Providence's huge garage where they kept all the jets and other vehicles, He met with Holiday and Caesar and told them of the information he gathered from Noah and about what happened with Rex. Caesar's eyes were wide. He had checked all the possibilities. _All _of them. But he never imagined that the cause of Rex's transformation was the nanites. What else could explain the glowing of Rex's eyes when he regained his memories of his life in Providence in those split seconds before he lost them again?

That day, Caesar barely got out of his lab. He got a fresh sample of Rex's blood and immediately began working on finding the cause to why his nanites weren't working. If he could find the cause to that, then maybe he could find the cause to Rex's current physical appearance and memory. But as he worked, he found himself more and more willing to just get up and forget about it. Forget about finding a cure to bring the 16 year old Rex back. If he just kept Rex the way he was now, and White Knight gave up on bringing back his cure to the nanite event, then wouldn't they be able to have a fresh start? Caesar could put Rex in pre-school, he could grow up again, forget about fighting EVOs and living in Providence. He could give Rex a life. Maybe in Mexico, where he would never have to worry about being used as a weapon ever again…

_No, don't think like that…_He thought to himself._ What about the people in Providence who love him? What about his friends? You have no right to keep him away from his friends or his friends away from him…_

Rex was coloring and humming a little song to himself at the other side of the lab. He looked to his little brother sadly, then turned back to his work again. _Just keep working…_He told himself._ Rex has a life. He lives here in Providence. He has friends and people who love him here. You have absolutely no right to take that away…_

Caesar jumped as a screen to his right started beeping. Someone was calling him. He pressed a button to answer the call, and Peter Meechum appeared on the screen. _Uh oh…_

"Oh…hello Meechum…" Caesar said. Usually when Meechum called it was either because Caesar was in trouble or because he needed something. "Caesar, why are you still in Providence?" Meechum said, annoyed. In so many ways, Meechum was so similar to White Knight. Just like White Knight was always grumbling down at Rex, Meechum was always grumbling down at Caesar. They always seemed to look at the negative side of everything.

Caesar just rolled his eyes and huffed. "Why wouldn't I be in Providence? I live here now, remember?" He answered. Meechum's eyebrows twitched in annoyance. "You forgot about our project, didn't you?" He grumbled. Caesar paled. The project! Oh, he had totally forgotten about it in the few days that he had been busy taking care of Rex! "Uh oh…" He muttered.

"Uh oh is right! What are you still doing there? We have a presentation due at the end of next week and the prototype still isn't finished!" He stressed. Meechum was right. There was too much work to be done. Caesar looked behind his shoulder at Rex and back at Meechum. "I have a huge problema…" Caesar said, moving aside so Meechum could see Rex. Meechum's eyes widened, but he quickly recovered. "Caesar…what did you do this time?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Hey! It wasn't me, it was Van Kliess!"  
"Either way, it wouldn't hurt if you left him with his ninja nanny for a week or two…"  
"Meechum, Rex doesn't remember Six. He doesn't even remember you!"  
"You mean his memory's wiped too?"  
Caesar nodded. "It's a long story…"  
"look Caesar, we can't just let you stay and not do your part of the project. We need you here, fast."  
Caesar debated with himself for a few minutes, then answered. "Fine…Just give me two days…." He said, closing his eyes in defeat.

Meechum agreed to his request, and let him be. As soon as he disappeared from the screen, Caesar sighed. He remembered how Rex always made a fuss when he was going to school, even when he himself was going to preschool. He would scream and kick and shout whenever Caesar was about to leave out the door, afraid that he was leaving forever. Even though he came back every time. One time he went so far as to lock the front door and hide the keys. Caesar had to go out the window to get to school that day. If he knew that Caesar was leaving to another city, then he would never let him go nearly as easy.

Caesar got up and walked over to Rex. He picked him up, interrupting the little boy's coloring. Rex didn't mind though. He liked it when Caesar spoiled him. "It's getting late, mijo. It's time for you to go to bed." He said, nuzzling his little brother's nose. "Aw…but I'm not tired." Rex said, trying not to yawn, but failing. Caesar narrowed his eyes and raised his eyebrows as he smiled, obviously doubting it. "Really!" the little boy said as his brother ignored him and carried him out of the lab anyway.

As they walked along the halls, Rex spotted Six heading to his own room. "Goodnight Mr. Super Hero…" Rex said, closing his eyes and resting his head on Caesar's shoulder. Six froze. _Did he just call me Mr. Super Hero? _If Six wasn't Six, he would have smiled. Caesar stopped and turned to him. "Six, we need to talk. Would Holiday still be at her lab now?" He asked. It was obvious from his expression that he was serious. Six nodded. "good. I'm just going to put Rex to bed and be right there." And with that, he continued on his way. Six went the opposite direction, away from his room and towards Holiday's lab.

After he had finished tucking Rex in bed, Caesar went to Holiday's lab and explained his current situation to Doctor Holiday and Six. "And you can't cancel your trip to work because…?" Six asked. "Because I have to present our project with Meechum and Rylander, and I can`t just abandon them…" Caesar answered. Six stayed silent. "I would take Rex with me, but I'm not allowed to. As you would probably already know since you usually work with him, Rex is super accident prone. Even as a baby, you'd think he's harmless, but, ¡dios mío! He is anything but!"

"So you want us to babysit him?" Asked Holiday. Caesar nodded. "I know it's not very nice of me to just leave him to you for two weeks, but what choice do I have?" He answered.  
"No…" Six said, stoically.  
"Oh, come on! You're supposed to be his nanny!" Caesar complained.  
"I'm supposed to be his protector. Holiday's job is to tend to any battle wounds and keep track of his nanites. Babying him and taking care of him is your job."  
"Oh come now, Six. It'll be like getting to know him all over again! You forgot all of your memories with him when he was young, so here's a chance to make new ones!" Holiday defended.

Six thought about it for a while. Holiday was right. This was a once in a lifetime chance for him to make up for the years' worth of memories lost of when Rex was a child. True, now he was younger than when Six was told to have found him, but it was still better than nothing. Six wanted to remember. He really did. But he knew that he wasn't good with children. What mercenary would be?

"Fine…but no more than two weeks." He said. Even so, he wanted to try. Holiday smiled up at him. Her face looked so pretty when she smiled.

"Great! I have two days before I leave, so I want to take Rex out tomorrow." Caesar said, interrupting his thoughts. "I'll write down a list of things that you need to do to get him through the days while I'm gone…" And with that he left. Heading back to his room where Rex was sleeping. He was tired. He just wanted to sink into the covers of the bed next to his little brother. Then he would give Rex the best two days of his life before he left.

**The next day…**

Caesar slept like a baby last night. But he woke up with the air knocked out of his lungs as Rex body slammed him awake. "WAKE UP!" His little brother screamed. He was wearing one of Caesar's clean underpants on his head. Caesar was a little bit angry, but when he opened his mouth to say something, he broke into fits of laughter as he saw what his brother was wearing. "Cabeza de Trapo!" he said between laughs. "I'm not Cabeza de Trapo! I'm a luchador!" Rex shouted, still lying on top of his brother. "Really? Are you strong enough to fight the mad scientist then? MWAHAHAHA!" Caesar yelled.

Rex screamed and ran out of the room, giggling. Caesar ran after him, still laughing evilly. Rex ran with Caesar close behind until he bumped right into Six's legs, bouncing back and falling to the floor on his butt. "Ow!" Rex whined. Six raised an eyebrow. Just then, Caesar picked him up. "Gotcha!" He said, rubbing his cheek against his little brother's. "EW! Scratchy!" Rex squeaked. His older brother hadn't shaved yet. Caesar just laughed and kissed his little brother's cheeks.

Suddenly there was a click. Caesar and Rex looked to see Six holding out his camera phone. "Blackmail…" He smirked.  
"Good idea", Caesar replied pulling out his own phone and playing a recording. He had slept in his work cloths last night. "I have another question…are you a leprechaun, too?" Rex's voice came from the phone. Six's voice could be heard coughing and sputtering as he tried to regain control of his breathing. "Why on earth would you think that?" His voice said. "Because you're wearing like one…" Rex's voice replied.

Six's smile dropped into a thin frowning line. "You dare…" He said, glaring at Caesar. "I won't if you send that picture to me and delete it from your phone." Caesar replied. Six just brought one of his swords out and sliced Caesar's phone in two. Caesar just pulled out another device, pressed the button, and an announcement blared in the halls, playing the recording for everyone to hear. "I have another question…" Six sliced the device, cutting the announcement off. "there's plenty more where that came from!" Caesar said with a confident smile. He held out his hand. Six paused, then gave him the phone. This was just ridiculous. He decided to just give it to him, but he'd get him back for it later. Caesar sent the picture to one of his laptops and deleted the picture from Six's phone. Strangely enough, it was the only picture in his entire gallery. He returned the phone back to the glaring Six.

Rex just watched in confusion. Both times, he could barely notice the swords slice at the two devices. How did his arms move so fast? His face paled as he remembered the way Six looked in his 'dream'. Deadly and frightening. He looked up at his brother, who looked like he hadn't a care in the world. It was like he didn't even notice how dangerous the man in green was. Was Six his real name? He stared at the sword in Six's hand, unable to peel his eyes away. Six caught sight of Rex's expression and quickly let his sword fold, hiding it in his sleeve. He knew that even though Rex thought it was just a dream, he'd probably never fully forget that terrible night. He still felt guilty about it, and figured that he'd probably never forgive himself for what happened.

Satisfied, Caesar turned around and walked down the hall back to his room. "Come on, mijo! Let me get ready, and we'll go shopping and get some ice-cream!" He said, taking Rex with him in his arms. "Yey!" Rex shouted, snapping out of his fear. Six silently watched them walk away. _Yep…I really need a different color suit…_he thought to himself.

Caesar got dressed in a normal T-shirt and jeans instead of his usual work cloths. He took Rex to the mall, and bought him a cute little blue T-shirt with a picture of a teddy bear head on it and a pair of baggy shorts. He also made sure to buy him some cute little sneakers to match. Rex had been wearing Bobo's cloths since he had been shrunken down to a 4 year old. He was so small that they were the only clothes in all of Providence that were close enough to his size, and even they were a little bit big. He had to stay barefoot since there were no shoes or socks that fit him at all.

Of course, Caesar bought him more than just that outfit, but those were his favourites. He let Rex wear them right away, and placed Bobo's cloths in a messy pile in one of the bags he held. He was still mad at the monkey for what he did yesterday. Caesar was embarrassed to find out that most of the workers who saw them asked if he was Rex's father rather than his brother because of the huge gap between his age and Rex's apparent age. "Aw…you're little boy's so cute!" One of the helpers said in one of the shops. Caesar's face immediately became tomato red at the thought. "He's by baby brother!" He said, embarrassed. Of course, no one could blame her or anyone else for thinking that…

Caesar sat before Rex at the food court of the building. He and Rex were both eating chicken burgers. In his hurry to give Rex a good time before he had to leave the day after tomorrow, Caesar totally forgot about breakfast. He promised to buy Rex an ice-cream cone only if he finished his food. Caesar thought of what they could do next. Maybe he should have planned what to do yesterday…  
Swimming! Why not go to a pool? Rex loved to go swimming when he was a child. Although, he'd probably need to reteach him how to swim by himself.

Caesar bought Rex some ice-cream and they went looking for some swimming trunks for them both. Rex was so tiny, it took forever to find him one that he liked and was his right size. Caesar, on the other hand found one with ease. He paid for them both and prepared himself for the question of "Is he yours?" by the cashier.

The two went back to Caesar's ship and flew to the public pool that Rex had insisted on taking him to when he was 16. They left their shopping bags in the ship and went in. Rex sat on Caesar's shoulders as he went into the water. Caesar decided to go to the kiddie pool this time. He didn't want Rex to drown. He remembered one time in Mexico where he almost did. After that he never let him swim alone again, even when he got so good at it. Caesar lifted Rex off his shoulders and placed him into the water. To Rex, the water was so deep, it made him nervous. It seemed like there was no ground at all, that is until he felt it under his small feet. The water reached to the top of his shoulders. Caesar had to sit down to let the water to get to the top of his chest.

They splashed and played in the water all day until the sun began to set. "Alright, mijo! We need to go now." Caesar said, climbing out of the water. He waved over, telling Rex to come. "Aw…but I don't wanna go yet!" Rex called over to him. "Rex, it's getting dark. Look, everyone's leaving." Caesar called back. Rex looked around him. Caesar was right. Everyone but him and a few teenagers were out of the water and heading to the locker rooms to get changed and go home. Rex climbed out of the water and defeat and took Caesar's hand as they too headed to the men's locker room.

Caesar flew his ship back to providence. There, he gave Rex a warm bath, and helped him wear his new pyjamas, then he showered and wore his own. He tucked his little brother in bed. Rex yawned. All that fun in the water made him tired. "Eh-mano…Tell me a story…" Rex said, half asleep.

Caesar smiled as he watched his little brother try his best to stay awake. "Well…Once upon a time…There was a boy. He couldn't remember where he came from, or who his family was. All he knew was that he liked to help people. He could build machines with his arms and legs. He was found by a man in green clothes. That man taught him how to fight and save people. One day, an evil man with the ability to control nature asked the boy to join him. He told him that they could make the world better for people who had powers like them, but the boy knew that he didn't care about what happened to people who were normal, so he refused…" Caesar stopped when he saw that his little brother was already fast asleep. Rex's expression was so peaceful. Caesar thought of what he was going to do with Rex tomorrow. One of the workers in one of the shops at the mall had mentioned something about an amusement park opening tomorrow. Maybe he should take him there?

**The next day…**

Rex awoke turned over in bed. He looked to see that his brother wasn't there. "Eh-mano…?" he called. "I'm in here!" His brother called through the bathroom door. "Oh…" Rex said, relieved. He didn't want to have to go out the bedroom door on his own. Not after what he saw in his 'dream'. Caesar opened the bathroom door and walked out. He let Rex go to the bathroom, then helped him brush his teeth and wear his outdoor clothing after he came back out. They sat at a table in the cafeteria with Six, Holiday, and Bobo. "Are we going anywhere today, Eh-mano?" Rex asked. Caesar smiled and nodded. "yes, but I won't take you unless you eat all of your food. Including the vegetables."  
"Where? Where are we going?" Rex asked, excited. "can we take Mr. Super hero and the pretty scientist lady and Bobo too?" Holiday blushed at the comment.

Caesar looked at them all. "We're going to the amusement park. Would you like to come?" he asked. "I don't think so…" Six said. Holiday elbowed his arm and frowned at him. Six just raised an eyebrow. "come on, it'll be fun!" Holiday said. "Eh, I got nu'in' better ta do…" Bobo said, rubbing his neck. Six just sighed and said "Fine…What time are we going?"  
Caesar smiled. "At 5:00."

They continued to eat their breakfast, keeping themselves busy with small talk as they ate. "Caesar, what's Abysus?" Rex asked innocently. Caesar froze. His mouth hung open and his fork dropped from his hand onto the table. Six and Holiday looked up from their food, suddenly interested. Caesar turned to his brother. "Where did you hear that word?" He asked, totally serious now. "Is it a bad word?" Rex asked. "No, it's a place. But where did you hear it?" Caesar replied. Rex just shrugged. "I don't know. I was just thinking it, but I didn't know what it was…Who's Noah? Was he at Abysus before?" He said. Six realized that Rex was starting to remember bits and pieces of what had happened back at the restaurant. Rex's eyes began to glow blue again, but this time the glow was dimmer. "Abysus…has nanites…Van Kliess…me…younger…" Rex said, as if in a trance. He closed his eyes and swayed just a little. Caesar grabbed onto his little brother's shoulders, keeping him upright. "Rex? What about the nanites? What about Van Kliess?" He urged, gently shaking his brother. Rex opened his eyes. "What are you talking about Eh-mano?" Rex asked. It was as if nothing had happened. He didn't remember what he had just said. For once, he felt nothing after something like this happened.

"Rex? Are you ok?" Holiday asked. "I feel fine." Rex said, nodding. After breakfast, Holiday took him for a check-up anyway. Indeed, there was nothing wrong with the boy. Caesar worked in his lab, looking at the sample of Rex's nanites for the rest of that morning. He was convinced that Rex was trying to tell him that the nanites indeed had something to do with his condition. Rex sat beside him, coloring a few pictures until an alarm bell rang, signalling that it was 5:00 and it was time to go. Caesar sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He found nothing. There was nothing unusual about those nanites. They were just like every other batch of inactive nanites, so what was the problem coming from?

Caesar got up from his microscope and he led Rex to his ship. Six, Holiday, and Bobo were already there, waiting for them. "I didn't find anything. Did you?" Holiday asked Caesar. "No, nada…" he replied. Caesar unlocked the ship and let them all get in. He set the coordinates of the amusement park and the autopilot flew them there. The place was very crowded. Rex could make out many families with their children buying food and going on rides. Caesar was concerned that Rex might let go of his hand and get lost in the crowd, so he picked him up and placed him on his shoulders, keeping hold of his legs to prevent him from falling. "Caesar…why aren't mommy and pappy here with us? I thought they promised that at summer they wouldn't go to work…" Rex said pouting. Caesar was glad that Rex couldn't see his face twist in pain. _Because they're dead…_He thought to himself. "It's not their fault, Rex…They didn't know that work would come up." He said out loud.

Holiday spotted the giant roller coaster ride to her left. She looked up at Six. "Want go on that one?" She pointed to it. Six said nothing and just let her wrap her arm around his and drag him over to it, leaving Caesar, Rex and Bobo behind. Secretly, his heart skipped a beat. Rex bent down to whisper in Caesar's ear. "Mr. Super hero likes her, huh…" He said. Caesar couldn't help but snicker. Even the child could see it. Rex was too small to go on most of the grow-up rides, but Caesar went with him on some of the more child-friendly ones. He let Rex try and win himself a dinosaur plushie, but when he failed, Caesar won it for him on the next round. Caesar made Bobo go with Rex on some of the rides that were too small for him to fit in. The monkey just growled at him, but did as he was told anyway. Caesar bought them all cotton candy. When They met up with Six and Holiday again, Holiday insisted on watching over Rex and letting Caesar go and have some fun on one of the bigger rides. Caesar didn't want to leave Rex, but Holiday made him anyway. Bobo went with him, eager to go on the grown-up rides. Rex kept a hold of Holiday's hand. Six was standing close by as they walked around, looking at the items in some of the smaller booths. Six kept a close eye on Rex. For some reason, he felt that something bad was going to happen. He wasn't going to let doubt cloud his instincts like last time. The last time that happened, Rex had been kidnapped and turned into the way he was now.

No matter how hard Six was staring at Rex, though, he would have never seen the tiny portal the size of a point that was right beside Rex's ear. "Oh, faaaaaavorite…" A voice whispered in Rex's ear. Rex tensed and looked around him for the source of the voice. There! Right at the entrance of the hall of mirrors, there was a girl. She had four arms, two that were huge, the other two were normal sized. Her short black hair was covering her face, and she wore a school girl outfit. She waved at him. He knew her before…he just couldn't quite remember. When Six looked in the direction that Rex was looking, there was no one there.

Six's instincts were screaming at him now. Suddenly, he heard a loud cry. That cry was followed by many others, and people started running towards the three. The crowd cleared so that Six could see an EVO that looked like a goat standing on its hind legs. It had the face of a human, but he was angry, extremely angry. Six readied his swords, and ran towards it. He delivered a kick to its chest, knocking it back violently. "Daddy!" A little girl called, terrified. Her mother held her tight, preventing her from getting any closer to the EVO, yet they didn't even run away. They only watched in horror as the EVO man got back up and lunged at Six.

Six quickly called for backup on his communicator as he dodged the EVO with ease. If only Rex was able to cure right now! He didn't want to have to kill the EVO. He decided to try and capture him instead. Rex watched Six, his face pale. He didn't want the green man to get hurt, but at the same time he couldn't help but remember how the EVO rabbit died. Holiday squeezed his hand gently, and Rex looked up at her. "Don't worry. They'll both make it out okay…" She said, as if reading his mind.

Just then, a portal opened, and an alligator EVO came out roaring. Holiday gasped and pulled out two guns, letting go of Rex's hand. "RUN!" She told him. And so, he did. Rex ran away from Holiday and the big scaly creature, and around the booth. As he continued to run, there was another whisper in his ear. "Come here!" It said. Rex looked towards the hall of mirrors and saw the girl there again. He couldn't remember who she was, but he could remember that he knew her, and right now, he was too scared to think his actions through. He ran up to her, and she picked him up and went inside.

Rex was so scared, he shook in Breach's arms. They walked deeper and deeper into the hall of mirrors, turning around so many corners. Rex lost track of how many corners they turned. The maze seemed endless until Breach finally stopped. Rex twisted around to see a man with long black hair and a golden hand. "Why, hello there, Rex!" Van Kliess said. He took Rex from Breach and lifted him high up in the air. Rex felt that this man was familiar too. Van Kliess must have felt his trembling because he brought him closer and kissed his forehead, hugging him tight. "There, there, little one…you're safe now…" He purred. Rex remembered his parents telling him to never trust a stranger, yet this man was so nice! Why shouldn't he trust him? Besides, he felt oh so familiar…

Six watched the EVO fall over and stay still. He was panting hard. The EVO had put up more of a fight than he thought it could. And that's when he saw it. A yellow mark that looked almost like a hand on the EVO's shoulder. Van Kliess was here! Six quickly ran back to where he had left Rex and Holiday. When he got there, another EVO was on the ground with Holiday standing over it. Rex was nowhere to be seen. "Where is he?!" Six asked, stoically. Holiday knew him well enough to recognize that he was worried out of his mind. "He went that way!" Holiday said, panting and pointing at the hall of mirrors. Six wasted no time. He ran into the hall of mirrors with Holiday close behind. They rounded many corners until the path split into two. They decided to split up, and Six took the path on the left, while holiday took the one on the right.

Six heard talking on the other side of the path that he was in. He quietly hurried forward, careful not to make any sound. When he reached the end, he peeked around the corner to his right, and almost growled with anger. Van Kliess was there, holding Rex in his arms! Six knew that if he heard him, he would surely ask Breach to make a portal, and they would be gone. Who knows what Van Kliess would do with Rex then?

Six looked around him for anything he could use to knock out Breach. There was nothing around them but mirrors, small and big. But wait! The mirrors had metal frames. His swords could turn into a big magnet. Metals plus magnet equals harm. Six joined his swords together to create his magnet, and swung it so that the mirrors would fall onto Breach. His plan worked, the mirrors smashing into her, knocking her to the ground.

Rex whimpered as he heard the loud crash of glass as it hit the girl, hiding his face in the man's long hair. "Rex!" Rex heard the green man's voice. He peered out of the man's hair and saw Six. The 'super hero' was holding a sword that formed into a fork shape at the top of its blade. "You!" Van Kliess yelled, making the boy flinch. "Breach! Get us out of here!"  
Breach did not respond. She was out cold. Six separated his two swords and was about to lunge forward, but Biowolf jumped out from the shadows and pinned him down. Six was using his swords to keep Biowolf's claws away. Biowolf was trying to push his swords down to try and slice Six's neck.

Van Kliess took advantage of the opportunity and ran around one of the corners, leaving the three behind. Rex put two and two together. If Six was supposed to be the super hero, and he was trying to fight this guy, then…Uh oh…  
"MISTER, HELP!" Rex screamed beside Van Kliess's ear, making the fleeing man hiss in pain. He reached out to Six, but the green man was just too busy fending for himself, unable to follow them. Rex squirmed and kicked, trying to slip out of Van Kliess's grip, but to no avail. Where was the man taking him?! Oh he should have listened to his mommy and pappy's advice while he still had the chance!

Suddenly, Doctor Holiday tackled Van Kliess from the side, knocking him and Rex to the ground. Rex rolled away from the man's reach. In seconds, Doctor Holiday was over the man and was punching him with all her might. "This is for kidnapping him the first time! And this is for turning him into a child! And this is for trying to kidnap him again!" She shouted, punching him at the end of each sentence. The man's face was sure to bruise and swell later. A portal unexpectedly opened under them, making them both slip through. Rex gasped! The pretty scientist lady was gone! Another portal opened in the air seconds later, and she fell out and hit the ground.

Holiday lay there for a few seconds, and Rex ran over to her. What did she mean by 'kidnapping him the first time' and 'turning him into a child'? Holiday groaned and sat up. She gasped and put her hands on Rex's shoulders. "Are you okay?" she asked, worried. Rex nodded, his face pale. Six ran up to them. "A portal took Biowolf away. Are you okay?" he answered, as if reading their minds. Holiday got up and dusted her skirt off, then grabbed Rex's hand. "Same goes for Van Kliess. We're fine." She replied. "Mister, Mister! You should have seen the doctor! She was really strong!" Rex said. The color returned to his cheeks and he smiled.

Six kept his stoic expression, but on the inside, he sighed in relief. He was glad that little Rex was alright, but they had almost lost him, and what was supposed to be a fun day would have turned out to be a disaster. Together they made their way out of the hall of mirrors. The sky outside was getting dark.

Rex spotted Caesar. He was calling his name and looking around, obviously panicking. "Eh-mano!" Rex shouted, running to his brother. Caesar scooped him up and hugged him tight. "Oh, mijo! Oh, gracias a Dios que estás bien!" **(Oh, thank God you're alright)** he said, panting. He kissed his little brother's cheeks several times and hugged him tight again. Caesar had seen the markings on the two EVOs and knew that Van Kliess was there. Caesar had feared that they might have managed to take Rex.

**Back at Providence Base…**

"I'm not going anymore…" Caesar told Six and Holiday as they stood outside Caesar's room. Rex was inside, fast asleep. "Caesar, you can't just suddenly decide to stay like this when Meechum and Rylander are counting on you." Holiday said, her hands on her hips. "I don't care. I left for one hour at the amusement part, and Rex almost got kidnapped. I don't blame anyone for it, but if I go for two weeks, what if something bad happens?" Caesar replied, folding his arms over his chest. "Caesar, you're being unreasonable…" Holiday said.  
"Family comes first…"  
"Meechum has a family, and Rylander probably does too. Unlike you, they need income to be able to support those families."  
That was true. Providence covered most of Rex's expenses. They also fed them both and gave them a place to sleep…  
"Besides," Holiday added. "We'll be here to protect him just like we did in the amusement park. There's nothing to worry about."

Caesar considered it for a while. Meechum and Rylander really did need the income. If not to support their families, they needed it to support themselves. If their presentation was a success and they received the funding needed to finish their project, that income would be provided. Caesar sighed in defeat. "Fine…" He said. "Just…don't let anything bad happen when I'm gone." And with that, he went inside his room, murmuring a goodnight to them both and letting the door swish to a close behind him. He got dressed in his pyjamas and lay down next to Rex, stroking the sleeping boy's hair until, he too, fell asleep.

Caesar woke up at 6:00 in the morning. He quickly got dressed and snuck out the door. His bags were packed two days ago and were already stored in his ship, ready to go. He quit tip-toeing after he was confident enough that he wouldn't wake Rex up, and quickly walked to Providence's garage. Six and Holiday were already there to say their goodbyes. "You really didn't have to wake up so early." Caesar said to them, quite surprised that they even bothered. "didn't want to…" Six said, and Holiday elbowed his arm. Caesar smiled and shook his head. He turned and walked toward his ship, about to get on board.

"EH-MANO!" Caesar jumped to the sound of Rex's voice. _Uh oh…_  
Rex ran and hugged his brother's legs tight. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" He shrieked, refusing to let go. Caesar lifted his brother up and hugged the shaking Rex. "Oh, hermano. I have to go. I have work to do. I promise I'll be back soon. I promise!" He told him.  
"No! Take me with you!" Rex hugged him tighter. "Rex, I can't…" Caesar replied. The little boy was sobbing now. Caesar tried to put Rex down, but there was no use. Six stepped forward and grabbed little Rex, trying to take him off his struggling older brother. Rex just wouldn't budge. Six tried to pry his arms from around his brother's neck, and the child began to scream and kick, much to Caesar's discomfort. When they finally managed to get Rex off of him, Caesar turned and boarded his ship. "EH-MANO DON'T GOOOO!" Rex shrieked as his aircraft flew away. He was sobbing so hard now. "hic..hic…Eh-mano…" He said almost in a whisper as he cried.

Caesar kept watching Providence base until he was so far away that he could no longer see it. He sluggishly walked to a chair and sat down. He couldn't stop the tears from flowing. He hated having to leave Rex like this. He knew that Rex would probably cry himself to sleep now. This was officially the second worst time of his life since the nanite event. How could things possibly get any worse…?

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**Author's Note: I really have no idea how people get their inventions funded and produced. I had trouble searching for it, so i wrote it as best as i could. (I had to get rid of Caesar somehow. It's important for the next few chapters in the story) If you know more about how this works then feel free to tell me and i'll gladly adjust that part of the chapter.**

**Thank you to all the reviewers! I love reading them every time i post! gives me evergy to continue :)**

**Until next time...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note: Sorry i was so late in posting this! lots of things to do for school before march break. As a treat though, i made this chapter extra long. I hope you like it!**

**Ooh! and by the way, i love all your comments so much! they're pretty much the second reason I keep posting other than the fact that i love to write this story, so never stop ok?**

* * *

Six held Rex awkwardly from under his arms as he cried and reached out to the aircraft that was quickly getting smaller and smaller in the distance. He held the boy at arm's length, as if he were a ticking time bomb about to explode. It was hard to keep his face from showing the sympathy yet awkwardness that he felt within him. He had no idea how to react or calm the little boy squirming in front of him.

Holiday took Rex from Six and hugged him close, patting his back and whispering in his ear to calm down. But the little boy didn't want to quiet down. At this point he didn't care how loud he was, raising his voice in the echoing garage. He didn't care for all the providence troops that could probably hear him, no matter how far their rooms were from the garage. All he wanted was his big brother to come back. To not leave him with people he barely knew at all. Sure, he hadn't minded when he knew that his brother was around to prevent them from hurting him, but his only protection against these strange people was gone…

Rex's screams and hysterical crying eventually ended, but only after a few hours. He had cried himself to sleep in Holiday's arms. Six followed her to Rex and Bobo's room, and they placed him in his bed. "I heard his cryin' all da way here! What did ya do to da poor kid?" Bobo asked. For once he looked seriously worried. "Caesar left…Has work he needs to get done…" Six said stoically.

Six felt useless. He thought he could handle taking care of a child. _How hard could it be…?_ He had thought. Man, was he wrong. He completely blanked when Caesar had left the crying boy to him. If Holiday hadn't been there, he would have probably never fallen asleep, and kept crying and crying until he eventually had no tears to shed. Even then Six wouldn't have known what to do with him.

Holiday's shoulder was soaked with wet tears now. She would have to change her shirt before going to bed that night. She turned to Six. He looked blankly at her, then away. She could clearly see through the man's stoic expression. He could handle any EVO with ease, but he had no idea how to deal with a child. "It'll go better tomorrow…" She said, smiling up at him. Six knew there was no use in hiding it, and he let his frustration show on his face. "Bobo, please watch Rex. If you ever hear him wake up, make sure he doesn't go wandering around in the halls. The last thing we need is the Petting Zoo thing all over again." Holiday said. Six squeezed his hands into fists so hard, his knuckles whitened. He did that whenever he heard something he'd rather forget.

Holiday walked out of the room, and Six followed. They silently walked through the halls together, heading towards their rooms. Six entered his own room and sat there, too lazy to even pull back the covers and lay down. He thought about what had happened that day. About how Van Kliess almost captured the boy _again_…on _his watch…_  
How had this happened? Six was getting rusty! He allowed himself to get distracted by some EVO while Van Kliess made his move and tried to snatch the little boy away!

Six gritted his teeth. He couldn't let this happen again. Never!  
Six finally sighed, changed into a pair of sweatpants and a white T-shirt, and pulled back the covers. He took off his sunglasses and lay in bed, closing his eyes. He quickly fell asleep, not realizing how tired he was after that long day…

**Two hours later…**

Six woke up to the sound of the soft patting of feet on the ground outside his bedroom door. He quietly put on his sunglasses, grabbed his swords, let them unfold, and opened the door, ready for anything that came. Outside, Bobo stood, holding a sniffling 4-year-old's hand. Six put his swords away.

"Okay, green man, I seriously need my beauty sleep, and the da kid here ain't gonna quit cryin' any time soon…" He handed Rex over to Six, and tiredly walked away back to his and Rex's room. Great…what was he supposed to do now? Rex was crying, but he was crying much more calmly than he was two hours ago. However, Six still had no idea how to deal with this kind of situation. Holiday wasn't here right now, and she was probably still asleep since she usually gets up at 9:00 and starts her shift at 9:30. It was only 8:00 right now…

Six sighed, lifted Rex, and let him sit on the bed. He crouched down in front of him. "Why are you still crying…?" he asked stoically. "Why did he go…?" Rex asked back, sniffling. "Because he has work to do…" Six stated. What was the point of this talk anyway? To make him cry some more? Six sighed and sat down next to Rex on the bed. They sat there awkwardly for a few minutes, then Rex leaned on Six's arm, hiccupping and wiping away at his tears. Six froze. He was never the one for physical contact. Usually, if anyone did have physical contact with him, it was to try and knock him out or kill him, not hug him or lean against him or anything of that sort…

Six couldn't take it anymore. It just felt too weird. He got up. "I'm going to the bathroom. Stay here…" He said stoically. Rex was confused. Usually, if he did that with Caesar, he would have hugged him or even let him sit in his lap. But this man wasn't Caesar. Caesar was long gone…  
Rex sniffed and cried again, trying to stay quiet this time, but Six could hear him anyway as he closed the bathroom door. Six felt guilty, but this just wasn't his forte. He never imagined himself to have kids in the future. Maybe get married, sure. But kids? No way…

Six broke out of his own thoughts, noticing that there was no more sniffling going on outside. He finished using the bathroom and jammed the door open, worried that Rex might have wandered outside while he wasn't looking. Rex was still there, though. He was lying on the bed, breathing deeply, his face turned away. Six washed his hands and came closer to the boy. He was relieved to see that Rex had fallen back to sleep. He seemed so tired, and anything but peaceful.

Six went back to the bathroom, washed his face, shaved, and came back over to Rex. It was 8:30 now. Still a full hour until he could push the boy over to the doctor. He pondered on what to do now. Usually, he'd be up and about so much earlier, but he couldn't just leave Rex like this in his room. Six sighed again and lay down next to the sleeping little boy. He was sighing a lot today. He decided to maybe read a book to pass the time. He placed his back against the bed's back, opened one of his few books and began to read.

9:00. Six decided to get up and change into his usual green suit. He was fixing his tie when he heard Rex mumble in his sleep. "Van Kliess…nanites…rewind…"  
Six came closer to Rex. The boy's eyes were glowing under his eyelids. "Rex…?" Six shook the little boy. Rex opened his eyes to reveal a steady blue glow. "Six…? Why am I in your room? Where's Van Kliess? I…I'm so tired…wanna sleep…" Rex's eyes were starting to get heavy. Six shook the boy again. "Rex! What about the nanites? What were you saying earlier?" Six was desperate to keep him awake now. "Oh! N…nanites…VK…reprogramed some…r-rewind…" Rex said. His eyes closed and the glow began to disappear.

Six watched the little boy go back to sleep. Reprogrammed nanites? That was far from good…  
9:15. Still 15 minutes until Holiday would start her shift. Six looked from his clock back to the sleeping little boy in front of him. Van Kliess reprogrammed his nanites to make him younger…ok, but what did he mean by rewind? Six just couldn't wait for the answers. He needed them _now_. Six shook the little boy awake. "huh?" Rex sat up, rubbing his eyes. They felt dry and hurt a little from all that crying this morning. "Come on, we're going to see the doctor…" Six said stoically.

Six waited for Rex to get up and go to the bathroom, then opened the door and walked out, carefully making sure that Rex was following him. Rex caught up to Six and reached out, grabbing the man's hand. Six actually flinched! He slipped his hand out of Rex's grip and continued onward. Rex was confused. Why didn't he let him hold his hand? He reached out and grabbed it again, and the green man slipped his hand out of Rex's again. Rex stopped. Six didn't notice and kept walking forward. Did the super hero not like him? Rex felt hurt. Why? What did he do wrong?

"Rex?" Six had stopped and noticed that Rex had stopped following him. He looked back at the tiny boy. Rex seemed to have a sad expression on his face. "Come on, Rex. We need to get to Doctor Holiday's room…" Six said stoically. _He looks angry at me…_Rex though, looking at the man's stoic face as if noticing it for the first time. Come to think of it, the man rarely ever did smile at him. So didn't that mean that he was angry at him?

Rex walked back up to Six and followed him all the way to Holiday's room. Six knocked on the door. "Just a minute!" She called. They waited for a few seconds and she opened the door. She looked at Six. "Oh! Hello, Six." She said. Her hair was still left hanging down and she had no make-up on. Even then she looked extremely pretty. Six nodded a good morning and Holiday looked down at Rex. "Hello, Rex!" She said, lifting him up and giving him a hug. Well, at least the pretty scientist lady wasn't mad at him. She looked at his face and her eyebrows knit in concern. "Oh, sweetie, look at your poor face!" She said, brushing his hair back with one hand as she held him with her other arm. You wouldn't see it from afar, but Rex's eyelids were a little bit swollen from all that crying, and his eyes were still red.

"Holiday…we need to talk." Six said, interrupting her. Usually when he said that, there was something extremely important that needed attention. She put Rex down, and took his hand, walking down the hall with Six close behind them. She didn't even bother to put any make-up on and left her hair the way it was. She had a feeling that Six wanted to talk about Rex and it took all she had not to jog all the way to her lab rather than walk.

When they finally reached the lab, one of Holiday's screens was beeping loudly. She quickly looked at it, and saw that someone was calling her. "Rex, look! I think it's for you!" She said. She urged him to come over and have a seat on a chair before the screen. She pressed a button on the keyboard, and Caesar popped up on the screen. "Eh-mano!" Rex exclaimed. "Rex? What happened to you?!" Caesar said, bringing his face closer. He could see how bad his brother looked too. Rex said nothing. Tears started running down his cheeks again. "Why didn't you take me with you?" His voice cracked terribly. "Oh, mijo…I wanted to, but I couldn't. This is very important, Rex. But I'll be back very soon…you wouldn't even notice the time go bye! Please don't cry, mijo…" Caesar said, his eyebrows knit in concern. "Promise?" Rex asked, wiping his tears away. "I promise." Caesar said, giving him a sad smile.

Six took advantage of the child's distraction and took Holiday aside. He told her of everything Rex had said. After he was finished, Holiday stood there, zoned out. She was staring right through him. Usually, that was what she did when she was thinking. "I need Caesar for this…" She said, going to the screen that Rex was at. "Rex, sweetie, I need to talk to Caesar for a few minutes. How about you go play with Six?" She said, putting her hand on the arm of his chair. Rex looked at his brother, and Caesar nodded. "Don't worry, mijo. I'm not going anywhere. Let Doctor Holiday talk to me alone and I'll be here after she's finished ok?" He said.

Rex obeyed. He got off the chair and let Holiday sit in his place, then he went over to Six. Six raised an eyebrow. _Go __**play**__ with Six…really?_ He thought. Rex looked up at him, shyly. The more Six stared back with his frown, the more he felt that Six hated him. But in reality, Six felt terrible as he looked down at Rex. Even he had noticed Rex's slightly swollen eyelids and red eyes, and he felt bad that he didn't even know how to comfort the kid. He couldn't even let him hold his hand! It was just too strange. Besides…if the sixth deadliest man on earth were to be seen holding the hand of a child, he would instantly lose his reputation. He'd probably lose the way people respected him and feared him in Providence, too.

Holiday cleared her throat, wondering why they hadn't left the lab yet. Six almost forgot. He signalled the boy to follow him without a word, and they both walked out of the lab. The door swished behind them and Six kept walking to nowhere in particular. Rex struggled to keep up with the man in green. Compared to Six's legs, his were tiny, and Six could cover so much more ground in one step than he could. Rex jogged up to the man and tugged at his sleeve. Six stopped and looked to see Rex reaching up to him. He raised an eyebrow. "What?" He asked, not getting what the child wanted. Rex hopped up and down. Still no answer. Rex was getting impatient. "Carry me!" He said. The man just stared at him. "You can walk, Rex…" The man finally said after many seconds of staring. He continued walking, never noticing that the boy truly was starting to run out of energy. Pretty soon, Rex could no longer keep up with him. He stopped to catch his breath, but when he looked up, Six was already gone.

_Uh oh…_Rex looked around him. The green man was nowhere to be seen. "Mister?!" He called, hoping that Six would hear him. But there was no answer. "MISTER?!" Rex called out louder, a chill ran down his spine. The same thing happened to him in his 'dream'. Only last time, he was following a monkey, not a tall leprechaun…

Rex was starting to panic. He reminded himself to stay away from any doors larger than the ones to his brother's bedroom. He walked onward, telling himself that, like last time, he wasn't likely to have anyone find him just waiting in the halls. He did knock on several doors, though. Unfortunately, however, no one ever answered them. He kept on walking. Maybe he'd finally reach someplace where he'd find at least one or two people. He had seen so many of them wearing black masks and white combat suits like they did in the more futuristic cartoons his brother liked to watch with him at home. They had to be somewhere in the building. How could so many of them disappear without a trace? They must all be cramped in at least one room in this huge building…

**10 minutes later…**

"Are you seriouse?!" Holiday said in disbelief. "YOU lost him too?" Six hadn't realized that Rex wasn't beside him anymore until about 10 minutes of walking alone in the vast halls of Providence base. He went back to Holiday, knowing that she'd probably be furious. And he was totally right. She was furious. "First Caesar loses him, and now you?" She face-palmed and turned to the microphone, sending an announcement through the halls. "Attention all providence troops. Rex Salazar has been lost in the building. Please find him and report his location to the lab…" Holiday stopped herself before she could say the word 'again'. She feared that Rex might hear it if she did and figure out that his 'dream' wasn't a dream at all.

Rex was happy to hear the announcement blare in the halls. She didn't seem all that scared this time though. He continued to walk and knock on every door he came by. Eventually, someone answered. "Hey there, little fella!" a man with blond hair and a scar across one eye said. Rex looked up at him innocently. "Hello…Um…I'm lost…" He said shyly. He suddenly remembered what happened at the hall of mirrors yesterday and started thinking twice about what he was saying. The man just laughed. "I know. Heard it in the announcement…" He said. "Lemme take you back to Holiday's lab. Doctor Holiday, I found him!" He said into his earpiece as he lifted Rex up. As they walked along the halls, Rex remained quiet, staying alert for any sign that he needed to hit the man and run.

"So how do you like providence?" Captain Callen asked, attempting to start a conversation. "it's okay…" Rex said. "What do you think of Agent Six and Doctor Holiday?" The man asked. "The doctor's nice, but I don't think Mr. Super Hero likes me…" He told him. The man laughed. "What's so funny?" Rex asked innocently. "_Mister_ _Super Hero_? Wow! Why do you call him that?" Callen asked, still laughing. "Because he fights monsters and saves people. Doesn't that make him a super hero?"  
"Well yes, but if that's the case, then everyone who lives in Providence is a super hero."  
"Really? Are you a super hero too?"  
"Well…I live here, and I help fight monsters too. But I don't have any super powers."  
Rex told him the same thing he told Six when he had said that about himself.

In no time, they had reached the doors to Holiday's lab and walked in. "Thanks for bringing him up here…" Six said, walking towards them as Callen put Rex down. "Sure thing…_Mr. Super Hero…_" Callen snickered. "…Did he tell you that?" Six said as Rex ran toward the still running screen to talk to his brother. "He's a cute kid. Says you don't like him, though." Callen said. Six raised an eyebrow in question. "He thinks that?" He asked. Callen nodded. "Didn't ask him why, but I think he's just got the wrong idea about you. You should really try being nicer to the kid. Try a smile once in a while." He said. Six said nothing. _Although that would be a miracle…_Callen secretly thought.

Callen left the room soon after. Six adjusted his tie. "I'm going to get some coffee…" He said, walking towards the door, making sure that Rex heard him say that. Rex looked behind him and back to the screen at his older brother. Holiday opened her mouth to protest. She didn't want him running away from learning to deal with the 4 year old. Six quickly held his finger up to his nose and mouth, signalling her to not blow his cover. He made sure Caesar saw as well. "Okay then, get me one, too, please." She said, playing along. Six actually allowed his usually silent footsteps to make some noise. He then pressed the button on the door to let it swish open and closed, then silently ran and hid behind one of the lab equipment that Holiday used to track Rex's biometric signals.

Rex fell for it. He hadn't looked behind him to make sure. "Eh-mano…Come and get me…" Rex said, pouting. "Why, mijo? Something bothering you?" Caesar replied. "I don't think Mr. Super Hero likes me…" Rex said. It was almost a whisper, but they all heard it anyway. _He really does think that…_Six thought. "What? Why would you think that?" Caesar asked. "Because he always looks like he's mad at me and he never smiled except when you made me talk to him, and he doesn't let me hold his hand and he doesn't carry me, and I got lost today because I couldn't keep up…" Rex took a deep breath. He had said all that so quickly. Holiday's brows knit. "Oh, hermano, Six doesn't hate you he just…doesn't know how to deal with little kids like you. You should give him another chance. Besides, I told you before, mijo. I can't bring you here. I'm not allowed. I'm sorry." Caesar said, softly. Rex looked down sadly. His eyes threatened to spill tears again.

Holiday came closer to Rex. "Rex, I think Caesar is right. You should give Six another chance." She said. Rex nodded, still not looking at either of them. "Rex, how about you go get your colors and some paper and come and draw while I work?" Caesar said, trying to change the subject. Just then, Bobo came in. "You're just on time! Do you mind taking Rex to Caesar's lab to get his crayons and coming back here, please?" Holiday told him. "And don't you dare take him outside this time, or I'm coming to get you, monkey!" Caesar added, pointing at him through the screen. "Daw, come on! I said I was sorry…" The monkey said, raising his hands in disbelief. He went over to Rex and took his hand, leading him towards the door. "And since when did I become you guys' butler?" He asked, walking out the door with Rex. The door swished closed behind them and Six came out of hiding.

Holiday crossed her arms at him and stared through his glasses. She was angry at him. Six put his hands in his pockets. Even to someone as stone-faced as him, her stare was uncomfortable. He would never actually admit it though. "Why are you always so strict? Even to a 4 year old?" Holiday glared at him. "He's not sixteen. And at the moment, nor is he an EVO or Providences weapon. He's a child. He needs affection and care! Not even holding his hand? Losing him in the halls? Really?" She scolded. "Affection isn't something I'm good at…" He said stoically. "You are supposed to adjust to any situation. You always used to tell Rex to do that when you were training him and going out on missions together. So why aren't you at least trying to in this one?" She asked him, still glaring. Six said nothing. What was there to say? "Hmh…You can tackle EVOs, but you can't even care for a small child…" Holiday turned around, walking back to her work. Caesar said nothing. Six just stood there, lost in his own thoughts.

"You two know how to deal with him…Tell me what I'm supposed to do." He finally said, looking at them both. "Well…You could take him outside. Maybe to go eat or to a park or something. When you walk with him, let him hold your hand. Be nice to him. You should smile more and treat him is age…or his current age…" Holiday said. Her expression returned to normal. "Oh, and let him sit in your lap and read him bedtime stories. Carry him when he gets tired of walking, too. Make sure you give him a bath every other day." Caesar added. "Give him a bath? Why is that my job?" He asked, raising one eyebrow. "He's a baby, someone's gotta do it. Besides, you're his nanny remember?" Caesar replied, smirking. Six glared at him.

Just then, Rex and Bobo came in. Both were holding tons of crayons and paper in their arms. Holiday quickly cleared a space near the screen on the table for Rex to put his things. They both dumped them on there, and Rex began drawing quietly. On screen, Caesar smiled at him and started working on his own things. Six eventually interrupted his drawing to take him to eat breakfast.

**A few hours later…**

Rex yawned, bored out of his mind. He had been sitting there for hours, talking to his brother as he drew while his brother worked on his prototype. Six sat on a chair at the other side of the room. He had his elbow leaning on the table next to him, his head resting in his hand. Rex wondered if he had fallen asleep, since he was there sitting like that for an awfully long time. Didn't his glasses bother him with his hand pushing them up like that? What if it poked him in the eye if his head slipped?

Rex got up and slowly walked over to the man, afraid of waking him up. Caesar noticed him get up. "Mijo? Where are you going?" He asked, confused. Rex just looked at him and pressed a finger to his nose and mouth. "Shhhh…Mr. Super Hero's asleep…" He whispered so that only Caesar could hear. Caesar said nothing as his brother tip toed towards the man wearing green. When he stood before him, Rex waved at the man, making sure that he wasn't wrong. Six didn't respond. _Yep, he's asleep…_Rex thought. He reached up and grabbed his glasses. He carefully pulled them off…

Rex gasped when he saw that the man's eyes were open and staring right at him. Six couldn't help but smirk. He didn't even have to say 'boo'. "Oops…" Rex said shyly. He was quite shocked to see that Six was actually smiling at him. "Sorry…" Rex said, holding the glasses at arm's length for Six to take them. Six took them and paused, then, strangely enough, ruffled Rex's hair. He put them back on and stood up. "I'm bored. How about we go to the park?" He asked, looking down at the small boy. Rex grinned. The super hero actually offered to take him outside! He ran to the screen. "Eh-mano! Eh-mano! Can I go to the park with Mr. Super Hero?!" He asked, jumping up and down with excitement. "Sure, but be sure to bring him back at sundown, okay Six?" Caesar said, smiling. He was actually kind of happy to see Six trying to spend time with Rex, even though he might have been jealous of him before. Six nodded. Caesar said his goodbyes to his little brother, promising to call again the next day. He disappeared off-screen and Six signalled Rex to follow him out the door. Bobo followed them, too. Holiday smiled and watched as the door swished closed behind them.

As they walked down the halls towards the garage, Rex reached out for Six's hand again. He grabbed it, and Six flinched a little, but then gave Rex's hand a friendly squeeze. Rex was shocked. He didn't slip his hand away this time! He looked up at Six with wonder. One minute the man looked angry at him, and now he was being nice? What was up with that?  
Rex decided to just forget about it and kept walking.

Six could hear some of the Providence agents whisper to each other as he passed by. He was aware of all their eyes on him. _There goes my reputation…_He thought as he tried his best to ignore them. At one point he stopped and turned to glare at two troops, and they quickly looked away, whistling and pretending to be looking at something else. _That's right…you better fear me…_He thought, turning back around and continuing onward.

Six helped Rex onto the back seat of the truck and buckled his seatbelt for him. He got into the driver's seat and waited for Bobo to get into the seat beside him before he started the truck and drove into the desert towards the city. Within half an hour, they had gotten to the city's nearest park. Six parked the car nearby and walked over to a bench just beyond the park's gates. On the way there, Six had stopped to buy Rex a soccer ball. Rex ran forward, the ball in his tiny hands. He turned around and kicked the ball to Bobo, who kicked it back.

Six sat down on the bench and watched the two kick the ball back and forth. Rex was clearly off balance the whole time, but who cared? He was having fun! Six watched with surprising interest at the tiny boy as he giggled and ran after the ball, which Bobo seemed to purposefully kick farther and farther every time the boy kicked it back. Showing off, no doubt. He wondered what it was like to be so tiny and have little if not no care in the world. What was it like to know that you always had someone to protect you from anything that might come? To know that there was nothing to be afraid of so long as he/she/they were there?

More importantly, what was that feeling that Six kept having? The warm one that kept coming every time Rex was near? Was it the need to protect him? No it wasn't just that…it was more…

Rex ran over to Six and tugged at his hand, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Mister, mister! Come play!" Rex giggled. "No, Rex…I don't want to play." Six replied, shaking his head. "But you said you were bored…" Rex said, pouting. Six said nothing. "_pleeeeeeaaaaaase_!" Rex had his best puppy dog face on. It always worked with Caesar. Why not try it with the super hero as well? Six sighed and rolled his eyes behind his glasses. He got up and allowed himself to be dragged by the sleeve of his suit jacket towards the ball.

Bobo snickered at the tall green man. "Couldn't resist the puppy dog eyes huh?" He said, a huge mocking grin on his monkey face. Six glared at him. Rex kicked the ball over to Bobo, and he kicked it to Six. Six stopped it and looked down at the ball. If he played, Bobo would probably at least put up a fight. Rex on the other hand, would probably be no match at all. "Can't we play some other game?" He said, looking down at the tiny boy. Rex put his hand on his chin, looking thoughtful. "Hide and seek?" He finally said, smiling up at him. Six remained silent for a few seconds. _It's not much of a fun game for me, but it's still better than tiring the kid out in soccer…_  
"Fine." Six agreed. "Cool! Let's make it more fun though!" Rex exclaimed. Six raised an eyebrow. "That pole over there is the goal! Me and Bobo team up, and you have to find us and catch us before we get there. If one of us makes it, we both win!" Rex explained. _Well that's easy. Just guard the pole…_Six thought. "And no guarding the pole! You're only allowed to go near there while chasing us." Rex said. _There goes that plan…_

"Fine…" Six said stoically. "I'll start counting." He put his hand over his glasses. Rex cleared his throat. Six looked to see Rex holding out his hand. He just raised an eyebrow. "Your glasses. How am I supposed to know you're not peaking?" Rex asked. Six smiled._ Smart kid…_He thought. He slipped off his glasses and handed them over. Rex looked at them and put them on, then turned to Bobo. "look, Bobo! I'm Mr. Super Hero!" He exclaimed, using his fingers to raise his eyebrow up high over Six's glasses. Bobo shook his head. "Da green man doesn't smile much, remember?"  
"Oh yeah…" He said, replacing his grin with the frowniest frown he could manage. Bobo laughed.

"One…"  
"Hey! No fair, I'm not ready yet!" Rex whined.  
"Eight…nine…ten…"  
"to, twenty! Count to twenty!" Rex yelled over his shoulder as he and Bobo ran away from Six to hide.  
When Six had finally finished counting to twenty, he opened his eyes. Rex and Bobo were out of sight. He looked around, quietly listening for the smallest of sounds. Anything that could give them away like footsteps, breathing, or any other sort of movement. Nothing. No, wait! Six suddenly heard snickering. "Shhhhh…!" Bobo hissed at Rex. Six smiled. He crept towards the sound. "He's on to us! RUN!" Bobo yelled, jumping out from behind the small statue left from where Six was standing earlier. Six quickly caught him before he could even reach the ground. Rex tried to run, but Six grabbed him before he could get very far. "No fair, you cheated…" Rex pouted, looking at Six. "He's a ninja, kid. Of course he cheated…" Bobo said sarcastically. "Fine! One more time!" Rex said, stubbornly.

Six sighed. If it was always going to be this easy to win, then this was going to be a long day. Rex asked for a time out before Six would start counting and took Bobo to a side. He whispered in the monkey's ear and the monkey made a twisted smile up at Six, making him wonder what they were saying.

Rex was giggling. Six felt suspicious. "We're ready, Mr. Super Hero!" Rex said. Six closed his eyes and started counting. When he finished, he opened his eyes and looked around him. Listening again for any sounds coming from them. There were none this time. He looked around him, wondering where the two might have gone. He looked behind the statue that they had been hiding earlier, but they weren't there. He walked over to some short trees and looked around those, too. Also not there. _How could they have gotten so good so fast?_ He thought, looking around him. Suddenly he heard some bushes shaking. He looked behind him. "Bobo, stop moving! He'll find us…" He heard Rex say.

Six looked over the bush and saw the little boy crouched behind it. "found y…" He began to say stoically. _Wait a minute…where's the money?_ Six twisted around to see the monkey shooting towards the pole at the other side of the park. He realized that Rex had acted as a decoy! Six quickly ran after the monkey. He almost caught him, too, but the monkey quickly twisted away from his arm before he could even touch him. Bobo grabbed onto the pole and shouted "I WIN! I mean…we win…" He said when Rex glared at him.

Six could hardly believe it! The kid actually had a plan and it worked! He looked at the tiny little boy. _Outsmarted by a 4 year old…Six, you really need more training…_He thought to himself, straitening up and adjusting his tie. "Don't be mad…" Rex pouted up at him. He was still wearing Six's glasses. Six was so used to making his face look stoic that it became second nature. He softened his expression a little bit. "I'm not mad…" He said, crouching down on one knee. He tried looking into Rex's eyes, but the sunglasses blocked them, and Rex quickly lowered his gaze to his own feet. Six didn't want Rex to think he hated him, or was mad at him, but was just too frustrated from this conversation and the fact that a 4 year old actually beat him at this game to think of anything he could say to change that. He sighed and got up. "Are you going to keep playing, or do you want to go home…?" He said. Rex looked up at him from behind his glasses. "But we just got here!" He complained. "Then stop pouting and play with Bobo…I'll go sit over there…" He said, and with that, he took his sunglasses from Rex's face and went to sit on the bench again.

Bobo could see that Rex was starting to tear up again. "Common, kid, cheer up! Let's go play wit da ball or somethin'" He said, grabbing Rex's hand and heading towards the ball in the middle of the park where they had left it earlier. At first, when Bobo kicked it to him, the kid just sluggishly looked at it for a few minutes, then kicked it back. They kept passing it between them until Bobo was satisfied that Rex had cheered up at least a little bit. Six kept watching them both as they kicked the ball to each other over and over again. He felt that he had just messed up so badly. Why was it so hard to deal with the kid? He had dealt with Rex when he was older, so why couldn't he deal with him as he was now? _Because Rex already knew me and accepted me the way I am…He was already used to my stone-face and knew me well enough to see through it…_He answered himself.

Six looked up at the sky a few hours later. The sun was beginning to set, and it was going to take them half an hour to get back to Providence base…  
Six got up and walked over to the giggling little boy. When Rex looked at him, his childish grin disappeared and he looked down at his feet again. "Come on…it's time to go." Six said stoically. He held out his hand, and Rex held it reluctantly. They walked over to the truck parked in the parking lot, got in, and started their way back to Providence base.

By the time they got back, it was already dark. Six walked over to the back door of the truck and opened it. He gasped and quickly caught the sleeping little Rex before he could crash to the ground out of the truck. Six hadn't noticed that Rex had fallen asleep and was leaning against the door in the truck. Rex had woken with a start, but he was so tired that he was half asleep within seconds of it. Six unbuckled his seatbelt for him and was about to wake him, but then remembered how easily he had gotten lost earlier that day. If he got lost while fully awake that easily, then he would get lost a lot faster half asleep. Even if he were to hold his hand, he wouldn't be able to walk anyway, so Six was forced to carry the small child.

Six lifted him up and let the sleepy boy wrap his arms around his neck and lean his head on his shoulder. Six shifted the boy's weight in his arms and kicked the truck door closed.

Six felt oh so awkward, holding Rex against him like that. Who knew that he of all people would end up handling a small child and having to carry him around like this? Six walked with Rex in his arms through the halls of the base, hoping that no one would pop out and see him. As much as he didn't care about other people's opinions, he still didn't want any rumours going around that the sixth deadliest man on the earth was going soft. Bobo followed close behind as Six walked all the way to his and Rex's room. They entered the room and Six went over to Rex's bed, trying to put him down. Rex seemed to have other plans, though. He sleepily clung to Six, as if refusing to be put down on his bed, even though he wasn't even conscious of it. Six lay Rex down on the bed and reached for his own neck, trying to pry Rex's arms from around it. He finally managed to do so and stepped away from the sleeping boy. "Hey, green man. Don't blame me if he starts cryin' again and I take him to ya in da middle of da night. I got no idea how ta deal wit cryin' kids…" The monkey said as Six walked back out the door. _Hmh..as if I do…_

Six headed to his own room, wanting to get some sleep. It was a little early for his usual schedule, but he felt tired and decided to go to bed anyway. Holiday popped out of nowhere, bumping into him and almost falling over, but Six caught her before she could. A few papers spilled on the ground and they both bent to pick them up. They got up after they had quickly gathered them all and Six handed her the papers. He looked at her and noticed that her hair and face were still the way that had been that morning. "Sorry about getting you to work early…" he said to her. "No problem…how are things with Rex?" she asked. "He's fine.."  
"No, I mean about spending time with him. How did it go?"  
"…okay."  
"Six…" Holiday glared at him.  
Six sighed. "I don't get how it's so easy to you." He said stoically.  
"He's a child! How hard could it be?"  
Six was silent._ That's what I thought…_  
Holiday sighed in frustration. "Six, you are just so…grrrr!" She said, unable to think of a word to describe how impossible he was being. Six stayed silent. _Oh, great…now she's even more mad…_

She walked past him a few steps, then stopped and turned to face him again. She walked back up to him. "You know what? If you're truly having a hard time with Rex, then it's your own fault for being so damn stone-faced all the time! You never show any sign of emotion on your face, and keep your eyes hidden to show even less emotion! You push everyone away both physically and verbally, and you're just so _frustrating!_ You used to get mad every time Rex ran away from Providence? Well then guess why he did it in the first place!" And with that she turned around and walked away, headed to her own room.

Six just stood there, watching the doctor as she walked away and turned around the corner. Although he didn't really want to admit it, she was actually right. He never really showed much emotion to the kid even when he was sixteen. Rex never told him that he ran away because of that before he lost his memory, though. To Six's surprise, that kind of hurt. Six just turned around and kept walking to his room. He changed his clothes and lay down in his bed under the covers. Tomorrow he was going to have to try harder to get along with the kid.

**A few hours later…**

Rex was running as fast as he could. Was this a dream? It didn't look like it. He was taller…and older. He was wearing a white shirt and some jeans, and was carrying a sack of something. He didn't know what it was, just that it was important, so he held on to it. Someone was running after him. He couldn't remember who, but he could hear them yell after him, telling him to stop. He quickly rounded a corner, then another, and pressed himself against the wall as two or three men ran past, unaware of him standing right there. He was shocked to see that they were providence troops! But why were they after him? "Psst!" Rex heard someone his at him. He looked around but found no one. "Up here!" He looked up and noticed a boy with pure white skin which looked more like paper than skin. He hardly looked human at all. The boy was on the rooftop of the building his back was against. The boy lowered his arms and they seemed to unwind and stretch into just long strips of paper. They then began to twist around each other to form some kind of swing. "Get on, I'll pull you up!" He hissed, in a hurry. "HE'S OVER THERE!" one of the troops called in front of Rex. Heart beating fast, he reluctantly climbed onto the boy's…'hands', and let the boy pull him up. Just then, one of the troops shot the paper boy's arm, it lost the form it was in, dropping Rex. Rex screamed as he fell, feeling gravity pulling him closer and closer to the ground and the Providence troops waiting down there…

Rex woke up with a start. He was shaking violently. He looked down at his hands and saw that they were small again. He was still four. The room was dark, which creeped him out even more. He quickly got out of bed and rushed to the sleeping monkey on the pipes that looked more like trees. "Bobo! Bobo, wake up!" Rex shook the sling that Bobo was sleeping on. "mmmm…go to sleep, kid." The monkey mumbled, turning away from him. Tears filled Rex's eyes in desperation. He continued trying to wake the sleeping monkey, but he just wouldn't wake up.

Rex just wanted to get out of Providence. He didn't want the Providence troops to find him. Even if it was just a dream, what if they were truly that bad? They shot a kid in the arm! He decided to get out on his own. He walked over to the door, but started to hesitate. What if he got lost again? Then no one would find him because for all he knew everyone might be asleep. He wasn't really sure, though. There were no windows in this room to make sure that it was even night time.

Rex decided to get out anyway. He had to get away from here! If only Caesar were here to protect him! Rex jumped up to press the button, and walked out of the dark room. The halls were dark as well. Rex listened to the door swish closed and walked on, not really sure where he was going. The more he walked in the silent dark halls, the more scared he became. All he could hear was the humming of the air conditioner and the soft patting of his feet. Rex sniffed as he wiped away some of the spilling tears. "I wanna go home…" he whispered to himself as he kept walking. Rex felt so scared that walking soon tuned into jogging, then full out running as he desperately looked for an exit. He just couldn't find one, however. He was beginning to wonder if he was just running around in circles.

Rex finally stopped and crouched down in defeat. Sobbing and gasping for breath at the same time. Suddenly, Rex heard a door swish open. It sounded like it came from around the corner. He didn't want to stick around to see who it was. What if it was one of those Providence troops? What if they tried to hurt him? Rex got up and ran. He was tired, but he didn't care. He could feel his heart beating oh so fast as he ran for his life. Whoever it was, he was following him. He could hear his shoes thump against the floor after him as he ran. Rex kept turning around many corners, but the stranger still followed. He finally tried what he did in his dream and turned a few more corners, backing against another corner's wall. He waited and listened, hoping that whoever it was would just run past and he could then run the opposite way. Nothing. No one passed the corner that he was against, and he could hear absolutely nothing but the soft humming of distant machines. Rex guessed that he must have lost the stranger while he was running.

Rex listened a little more to make sure, then decided that it was safe and there was no need to hide anymore. He stepped away from the wall he was against and walked a few steps forward. "…Rex?" Rex jumped and twisted around. He gasped and ran up to Six, so happy that it just turned out to be him and not one of those Providence troops. Six let his swords fold back into their hilts and crouched down to get a better look at the little boy. He was surprised when Rex wrapped his arms around his neck and started sobbing into his shoulder. Six froze. He felt awkward, yet there was a strange need to comfort the boy. He stood up, lifting the boy still sobbing in his arms and headed back to his own room, deciding that the monkey wasn't responsible enough to watch over little Rex.

Rex soon calmed down a little. He let the 'super hero' carry him in silence for a few minutes, then began to mumble something to him. "What?" Six asked, not understanding the little boy as he mumbled again into his shoulder. "Rex, look at me and speak clearly…" Six stopped and said stoically, almost seeming annoyed. "…I had a scary dream…" The little boy said, leaning back a little bit and looking into the man's glasses. "Oh…" Six said, not asking him what it was about. The agent stood there for a few moments. He remembered what Holiday said earlier that day, and tried softening his expression again. He balanced Rex in one arm and used his free hand to take off his sunglasses, then put them in his pants pocket and wiped Rex's tears off his face. "What was it about?" He asked, trying not to look too stone-faced as usual.

Rex sniffed. "There were scary Providence people chasing me…And they had guns and they were yelling at me and telling me to stop, and I found another guy who tried to help me, and then they shot him, and then I fell, and then I woke up, and I tried to get out of here because I was scared, and the halls were all dark and scary so I didn't know what to do, and then I heard a door open, and then you started chasing me, except I didn't know it was you because…"

"Okay, okay I get it…I'm sorry I scared you." Six interrupted. Rex took a deep breath. He sniffed again. _Providence agents shooting a person trying to help him? Could he have been an EVO?_ Six thought. "What did the person trying to help you look like?" he asked out loud. "He looked like he was made of paper…" Rex stated, sniffing again. _Paper…the guy he used to call Tuck?_ Six thought. "I want mi eh-mano and mommy and pappy…I wanna go home…" Rex said, starting to tear up again. _Oh, great…_ Six gently pulled Rex back into an awkward hug and patted his back, trying to mimic the way he saw Holiday do it. He didn't really know what to say to him, though, so he stayed silent and let the boy soak his shirt with wet tears.

Rex ran out of tears after a bit of sobbing and watched the halls quietly as Six walked. He could feel Six's shirt all wet under his cheek and decided to rest his head on Six's other shoulder. Six adjusted Rex's weight in his arms as Rex shifted from one shoulder to the other. Rex sighed. "Mr. Super Hero…?" Rex began. Ugh that name…Callen was probably going to make fun of him forever if the kid kept calling him that. "You know you can just call me Six, right?"  
"Mr. Six…? What's your real name? Why does everyone call you Six?"  
"that's classified…"  
"What does that mean?"  
"It means it's none of your business…" Six said stoically.

"Oh…" Rex mumbled and fell silent. Six mentally face-palmed. He had done it again. "Why do they call you Rex?" He finally asked the 4 year old. Rex stayed silent for a few moments, thinking. "Because Mr. Rylander called me that? And mommy and pappy liked it?" He finally answered. "Exactly. So did my…father." Six replied. _I guess I would consider One to be like a father figure…_  
"But why did he call you a number?"  
"I don't know." Six lied. He wasn't about to tell a child who thought he was a super hero that he was actually an ex-mercenary who killed people and stole things for pay in a gang of the six deadliest people in the world. That would just make Rex fear him.

They finally managed to reach Six's room. Six entered his code on the keypad and walked in. He put Rex down on the bed and lay down beside him. Six placed his glasses on one of the bedside tables and brought the covers up to Rex's chin, then turned his back to him. "goodnight, Rex." He murmured stoically. "…goodnight…" Rex replied, somewhat disappointed. He wished Caesar was here instead to comfort him until he fell asleep like he usually did. Rex felt like crying, but he just had no more tears to shed. Instead, he turned and closed his eyes, hoping for sleep to come. It didn't.

**Half an hour later…**

Rex was twisting and turning, trying to get comfortable to attempt to get some sleep, but he just couldn't. And for a man who could wake up by the slightest of sounds that came from around the corner of the long hall, this was extra distracting. He simply wouldn't be able to sleep with the little boy moving every five minutes like this. He turned around and glared at Rex. "Rex…what are you doing?" He asked, annoyed. "I can't sleep…" Rex said, turning around once again to look at the agent. "I wish eh-mano was here…he would have helped me sleep…"  
"oh? And what would he have done to help?" Six raised an eyebrow.  
"he would have let me sit in his lap and combed my hair with his hand and told me a bedtime story. Can you do that for me?"

Six debated with himself about whether he was really that desperate. Yup, he was…  
Six sighed. "Fine, come here…" He said stoically, sitting up in bed. He let Rex come closer and sit on his lap. The 4 year old leaned against his chest and waited. Six sighed again and unwillingly started combing Rex's hair with his fingers. He stared into the distance, trying to think of a story that he could possibly tell him, but having a child sitting in his lap for pretty much the first time of his whole life was a little bit distracting. Finally giving up, he looked down at the little boy. Rex was looking up at him with those big brown eyes._ Man, I hope whoever created that puppy-dog-eyes trick was dragged outside and shot…_Six thought. _No wonder Caesar spoils the kid rotten._ "I don't really know any stories." He said out loud. Rex frowned, making Six's heart ache. _Damn it, Six, don't go soft now…_"Why don't you tell me one instead? I bet Caesar told you a lot of them…" he said, trying to wipe the disappointment off of Rex's face. It worked. Rex sat there, thinking.

"Okay. Eh-mano told me a cool story! I'll tell it to you! Once upon a time, there was a boy. He could build machines from his arms and legs. He couldn't remember anything but his name, though. A man wearing green found him…hey! Just like you, Mr. Six…he taught him how to fight monsters and…(yawn)…save people." Six was surprised to find out that Caesar actually told the boy the story of his own life. "One day, an evil man who could control nature came…and…" Rex dosed off for a few seconds, then opened his eyes and tried to continue. " he came and asked the boy to join him, but the boy knew that he didn't care about…and then he refused…" He dosed off again for a few seconds and woke up again. "The boy sold the cow for magic beans…and climbed up the beanstalk…he pushed the witch into the oven…the three bears chased after…"

Six couldn't help but smile at the little boy as he unconsciously started mixing up stories. First he mixed his own story with Jack and the Beanstock, then Hansel and Gretel, then Goldy Locks and the Tree Bears. The story just stared getting more and more hilarious until Six noticed that he was actually showing his **_teeth_**! _Quit it, Six! Stop it! Close your mouth…! _Six was trying his best to close his mouth, but he just couldn't. Every time he tried, it would just open again and show all his teeth in a grin. He looked down at Rex. The boy was already fast asleep. This time, he truly did look peaceful. Six watched the little boy breathe deeply in and out, and that warm feeling spread in him again for the second time that day.

Six gently lifted Rex from his lap and placed him beside him on the bed. He brought the covers up to the little boy's chin once again and lay down, himself. He watched Rex sleep for a few more minutes and closed his eyes. "Goodnight, Rex." He murmured, then fell asleep soon after.

**The next day…**

Six woke up to find Rex cuddled up against his chest, clinging to his shirt. He was a little bit confused to why he didn't wake up when he must have come closer to him in the first place. Was he really that tired? Six looked at his clock. He had overslept. It was already 9:00. Yep, he must have been because of the lack of sleep the night before. He pried Rex's fingers from his shirt, pushed the covers from over himself and went to the bathroom. After he finished, he washed his face, shaved, brushed his teeth, and got dressed. He went over to Rex and gently shook him. "Rex…? You need to wake up now." He said. "mmmm…?" the boy mumbled. He only turned away from the agent. The kid looked really tired, and Six didn't really want to wake him up, but he knew that if he didn't, Rex would probably stay up late and not be able to go to sleep that night. He shook the child again, but Rex didn't respond.

Six sighed. He walked over to the bathroom, got his hands wet and walked back to the sleeping boy, wiping his hands on Rex's face. Startled, little Rex sat up in bed. "Hey…!" Rex whined, wiping his face with his shirt sleeve. Six couldn't help but smile. He remembered when One would do that to get him to wake up in the early days of his training. "Come on, it's time to get up." He said. Smile disappearing, he lifted the still sleepy boy and walked back to the bathroom. He helped Rex wash his face and brush his teeth, then let the boy use the bathroom. After he got out, they both went to the cafeteria. Holiday was there, getting herself some breakfast. Six and Rex went to do the same, then they all sat at a table together.

Although Rex didn't want to, Six insisted that he eat all his food, including the vegetables. After they all finished eating, Holiday took Rex for a check-up, then Rex talked to his brother online. Six decided that if Rex was going to need to be put to sleep every night, he might as well get him some stories to read, so he took Rex to the library that day. He had brought a lot of stories back to providence. Six was carrying a whole pile of them.

As the days passed by, Six would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, feeling Rex cuddle up against his back or chest and cling to his shirt. He found that as the days passed, though, he started to mind it less. Occasionally, if Six was called out on a mission, Holiday would watch after Rex for him, but if she was also busy, they would call Noah to babysit him instead. Noah didn't mind. Babysitting his now 4 year old friend wasn't all that bad, actually. Plus, he was getting paid! He would often bring some board games with him. Other than that, they would play with Rex's video games or go down to Providence's gym, where Noah would try and teach him basketball all over again. He didn't know whether the little Hispanic boy was worse as a child or a teenager at playing the game!

Before they knew it, a week had already passed and one more week remained before Caesar could come back to Providence again. It was Sunday today. Rex was taking a nap while Six finished his paper work, lying down on one of the sofas in front of his desk. Six felt bored. He opened his drawer. There, there was a picture that Rex had drawn him yesterday. It was a picture of him, Rex, Holiday, Bobo, and Caesar. Although they looked slightly disfigured, they were still distinguishable. In the picture they were all holding hands, and Six actually had a smile on his face.

Six tried to go back to doing his paperwork, but five minutes later, he just couldn't concentrate anymore. He looked up from his paperwork, rubbing the bridge of his nose, and caught sight of the sleeping boy. Rex was hugging himself, curled up in a ball. _The air conditioning must be making him cold…_Six thought. He got up and took off his jacket, crouched down, and covered the sleeping boy with it. He stroked Rex's hair. He had to admit that he became even more attached to the kid than he had before within this week. "…pappy?" Rex whispered, keeping his eyes closed. Six froze. "love you…" he whispered again. Six felt a whole blast of that warm feeling in his chest, almost overwhelming him. _Quit it, Six, he doesn't mean you…_He told himself. It didn't matter. The feeling didn't go away anyway. He remembered the day he almost killed Rex.

_'I'm not you're father, kid…'  
'you're close enough!'_

Six smiled to himself. Right now, he was so glad he didn't kill Rex that day.

_But he lost those memories of you…he thinks you're just a new acquaintance now, taking care of him while his brother is away. He remembers his real parents now. He thinks they're still alive and doesn't need you to be his father…_

Six's smile disappeared. That was true. Rex forgot all his memories of Six, and even though Six had forgotten them as well, he still wanted Rex to remember them and tell him of them. And what about his parents? The kid was bound to find out about them sooner or later. Even if the kid had to grow up all over again, some day he would ask about why his parents never returned. What would happen to him then? Six guessed that if he could cry so much because his brother was leaving for a little while, then he would definitely do more than that if he knew of his parents' fate. And what would they tell him that they died of? Would he even believe it if they told him the truth? Either way, if he accepted that they were dead, what would happen to his mentality? Would he crumble and become one of those emo suicidal types, or would he learn to forget?

Six shook his head. Why was he even thinking about all this? He got up and sat back down behind his desk. He needed to finish his paperwork before he got any new EVOs to capture and file a report on…  
Suddenly, an alarm blared, making the halls turn from white to red. Rex gasped and sat up. Six sighed. _Great, another EVO to capture…_He got up, took his jacket and wore it, then picked Rex up and ran out the door. He dropped Rex off at Holiday's lab and ran the rest of the way to the briefing room. "Be safe, Mr. Super Hero…I mean Mr. Six!" Rex called after him. Holiday chuckled behind him.

"Doctor Holiday! Doctor Holiday! Wanna play with me?!" Rex said, running over to her and jumping up and down. Holiday looked up from her microscope. "oh sorry, sweetie. I won't be able to today. We can call Noah, though." She said, reaching up to her earpiece. She called for someone to get Noah, and in about half an hour, he came in with a Providence troop leading the way.

Because of the many times that Rex had shown him around Providence base when he was 16, Noah knew how to get around on his own and rarely ever got lost. He took Rex over to his and Bobo's room. Bobo was there, relaxing on his sling and shuffling a deck of cards. "Hey, you two. Play any card games?" He asked, obviously bored. "Not those kind of cards, but UNO maybe." Noah replied, pulling out a deck of his own colourful cards. It didn't matter to the monkey. He was bored out of his mind anyway. Besides, he felt a little shocked that there was actually a card game that _he _didn't know about.

Noah sat on the floor of the room, beckoning Rex and Bobo to come sit down. He began giving each of them 7 cards, and explained the rules of the game. Within half an hour of playing, Bobo had already found about 10 ways to cheat. The game soon became catching-the-other-players-cheat game. They played for about an hour more, then stopped, finally bored again. They decided to play videogames, starting of Super Smash Bros Brawl, and began hacking and slashing at each other's characters until they were bored of that, too. "Okay, wanna head down to the gym?" Noah asked. "No! You're always better than me at basketball!" Rex whined. Noah sighed. "Well then what do you wanna play?"  
"Hide and seek!"  
"Rex, you can barely get around Providence on your own."  
"Nuh-uh! I can go all the way to Doctor Holiday's lab all by myself now!"

Noah didn't want to at first, but he finally let Rex have his way. Noah insisted that they only play normal hide and seek, though. He didn't want to chase Rex and end up losing him in one of the places the kid didn't know how to get through. Noah started counting, and Rex quickly ran through the halls with Bobo, giggling. Bobo turned a corner. Rex was now alone. He smiled to himself. Holiday's lab wasn't the only place he knew how to get to alone. He also knew where Six's office and the cafeteria was. Rex chose to run over to Six's office. He had noticed that no one ever went in there when Six wasn't there, and he doubted that Noah was any different. Rex finally reached the door to his office. He knew how to use the keypad and after seeing Six use it so much, had managed to remember the passcode himself. Rex reached up and was about to jump up to enter the first number when someone grabbed him from behind and lifted him up.

The shape shifter had managed to sneak into Providence base after he made sure that that damned green-suited agent was long gone on a mission that his employer had set up as a distraction. He was paying top dollar and going to all this trouble to get just one small child. _Hah! This is going to be easy…_The shape shifter smiled to himself. He knew that the objective was Rex Salazar, but he was not allowed to hurt a hair on his head. What was even more bizarre was that he was said to have turned into a 4 year old! Yeah right!

At first the shape-shifter entered the base in disguise as a Providence trooper. He had entered one of the ships that had been sent to pick up the injured from that exact mission that the agent had been sent to. He pretended to have been injured for a while before having to knock out the nurse who almost blew his cover along with all the other Providence troops in the ship. He then flew the ship himself to an area near the base where no one was likely to find them until he was long gone, along with the small boy he was sent to capture.

After driving one of the trucks stored within the massive ship all the way to the base's gates, he managed to get into the building. He walked out of the garage, leaving the truck behind and walked into the base's halls. His employer managed to hack Providence base's computers and get a copy of the building's blueprints. He was going to use them to get to the boy's room, but as he made his way there, he heard giggling from around the corner. Keeping close to the wall, the shape-shifter peered around the corner, and his eyes widened from under his mask. There he was. Tiny and weak, a little boy no older than 4 years old reaching up to a keypad. The shape-shifter resisted the urge to beat him up. He would have loved to beat Rex half to death, but Van Kliess would probably kill him. He had made that clear from the very beginning. The shape-shifter changed into the form of Caesar Salazar, the mask disappearing from his face. Before the little boy before him was able to jump, he grabbed him.

_Uh-oh! Busted!_ Rex twisted round to see who had lifted him up. He gasped in delight, wrapping his arms around his older brother's neck and hugging him tight. "EH-MANO!" he screamed with glee. Disgusted, the shape-shifter let the boy hug him. "Hello there, Rex! what are you doing here?" He told the little boy. "I'm playing hide and seek with Noah and Bobo! Come play with us!" Rex said, looking up and the man he thought was his brother. The shape-shifter shook his head. "Let's go outside instead. I want you to meet someone special!" He told him. The shape shifter started walking back to the garage. There, he would steal one of the Providence trucks and get back to the place where he and Breach were meant to meet after he had gotten Rex. "But, eh-mano, mommy and pappy said it's rude to leave someone without telling him!"  
"doesn't matter, Rex. This time is different…"

The shape-shifter continued to walk down the hall, keeping an eye out for anyone who might pop up unexpectedly. If anyone did happen to pop up, he had to play Caesar Salazar well or things would have to get ugly.

Rex couldn't help but notice that there was something up with Caesar. "eh-mano? Why do you sound different?" Rex asked him. Caesar's accent was weird. His brother didn't usually speak like that, did he? _Oh sh#$..._the shape-shifter thought. "what do you mean?" He said out loud, pretending not to know what he meant. Rex decided not to care. His big brother was here. That was all he cared about.

**5 minutes ago…**

Six watched the giant EVO fall to the ground, unconscious. He was panting hard. Without Rex to cure EVOs, Six's job became increasingly time consuming, and Providence was starting to run low on cells to keep the EVOs in. Six straightened up and adjusted his tie. He was going to go back to Providence now. He climbed into the Providence ship that had carried him here and sat in one of the seats among the Providence troops. Suddenly, he felt that bad feeling he always got when danger was around. He tensed, thinking that Rex might be in trouble. Six waited patiently to get to Providence, resisting the urge to bounce his knee up and down as he waited. When they finally got there, he walked as fast as he could out of the garage and into the halls of Providence base. Rex was in danger. He could feel it.

Just then, Six stepped out from around the corner. The shape-shifter almost gasped. He stopped, looking at the green suited man in front of him. _How the hell did he get back so fast?!_ Although Six's face remained stoic, his eyes widened behind his glasses. He put his hands in his pockets as he walked closer to the two. There was no way Caesar would have come back this early. He still had to do his presentation at the end of this week. He remembered the shape-shifter incident they had back at the Dam base. "Caesar, I've been looking for you everywhere. Where were you?" He asked stoically.  
"What do you mean Mr. Si…" Rex almost blew his cover.  
"Rex, I'm talking to your brother. It's rude to interrupt." Six snapped at him stoically. He knew this would hurt Rex's feelings, but right _now_ making sure that this man was truly Caesar was more important.

"I was i-in the bathroom…" the shape-shifter replied. "What happened to the report I told you to file for White Knight?" Six asked. _REPORT?! What report?!_ The shape-shifter searched for an answer. "Oh, right! The report! I hadn't gotten to it yet." He said out loud, laughing nervously. That was it! Six quickly pulled out his twin swords, but the shape-shifter was quick to react. "HOLD IT!" he screamed, pointing a gun-like object with a needle at its end to Rex's neck. It had a bottle of some sort of glowing yellow liquid in it. Rex screamed. "EH-MANO, WHAT'RE YOU DOING?!" the little boy squirmed in his 'older brother's' grip, tears filling his eyes. Six gritted his teeth.

The shape-shifter smiled. The needle was only supposed to be a back-up plan in case things got bad. Van Kliess had ordered him to do whatever he needed to do to get the little runt over to him safe and sound, but if the plan were to ever back-fire, he would have to inject the liquid into Rex himself.

Since there was no more use for his disguise, the shape-shifter returned to his true form. Rex gasped as he looked the shape shifter. This guy was not his brother at all! He saw how bad this guy`s accent was compared to his brother, but he never expected this to happen! After all, he really did look so much like Caesar, how could he have noticed?

The shape-shifter weighed his options. If he tried to run with the boy, the green-suited man would probably manage to knock him out and he'd end up arrested again. If he injected the kid with the liquid, the man would have his hands full with Rex and he would manage to get away from him and sneak back out! Plus he would get his big reward from Van Kliess! The second option was better. Definitely the second option…

"Sorry, ninja man…!" the shape-shifter said, taking the needle away from Rex's neck and poking it in his shoulder instead. The boy yelped in pain as the shape-shifter pulled the trigger, injecting the liquid into his veins. "REX!" Six shouted. The shape shifter dropped the boy and let him crash to the ground with a loud thump in the echoing halls. He quickly turned and ran, his appearance changing into that of a providence trooper.

Rex lay there, scratching at his shoulder and whimpering. Soon his whimpering turned into wailing and then into full out screaming in pain. Rex felt like he was burning alive! But every time he looked, there was no fire. Six quickly crouched down beside him and lifted up the boy's sleeve. Rex's shoulder was turning bright red, and the redness was spreading fast. Soon it was already over his whole arm, half his torso, and half his face.

Six grabbed Rex and ran as fast as he could towards Holiday's lab…


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: AH! finally break time! Now i can update this story. Sorry, folks! For those who asked, i usually update every weekend, but unfortunately, it was the end of my collage semester last week so i couldn't write much. XD hope you like it!**

* * *

Six rushed into Holiday's lab with Rex in his arms. "Holiday!" He yelled, not bothering to keep his face stoic. Everyone in the lab could see how nervous he was, desperate to get help. Rex screamed loudly, curling up in pain. Holiday's eyes widened. She quickly began yelling orders to the other scientists around her, telling them to get her medical supplies as quickly as possible. Six set Rex down on the table that Holiday usually gave him is check-up on.

"What happened?!" Holiday asked, yelling so that Six could hear her over Rex's screams.  
"Shape-shifter! He got in and injected him with something!" He yelled back. Holiday quickly turned around and grabbed a new needle. Six had to pin the squirming boy down for her to get a blood sample. Holiday quickly ran to a microscope and began analysing the sample.

Six looked at Rex. The boy was in so much pain, it hurt to even look at him. Six wished that he hadn't left Providence base to go on that stupid mission. Next time he was going to stay and keep an eye on the kid…if there ever was a next time…  
"No!" Six hissed to himself. He remembered how Caesar had done the same when Rex was first kidnapped. He now understood what the elder Salazar had felt. Six kept a hold of the squirming little boy, scared that he might fall over the edge of the table if he didn't.

"I…I can't believe this!" Holiday said, looking up from her microscope. Six looked over to her. "They're changing him! The nanites are changing him!" She said, her eyes wide. _The kid's turning EVO?_ Six looked back at the boy, his skin now completely red. Rex's body heat was beyond feverish. Rex's scream faded, and he passed out. Six froze in horror. The kid lay still. He felt for the boy's neck, desperate to find a pulse. He found it and let out a deep breath. Six could actually feel his hands shaking. He hadn't felt himself shake since his first ever mission. But this shaking was different. He wasn't scared for his own life. He was scared for Rex's. _Please…Please let him be okay…I'll treat him better. Him and Holiday, Caesar, Bobo…all of them! Just let him be OKAY…_ Six pleaded.

Six watched the still boy before him, his heart beating fast. He waited, but Rex didn't change. He remained the same. Six swallowed hard. He could see nothing happening. Rex just lay there, breathing normally, he was sweating, and the red color in his skin remained the same. All of a sudden, Rex made a sharp gasp and jerked. His eyes opened wide and he thumped back down onto the bed. "Rex?!" Six gasped. Holiday was at his side now. She hooked him to a machine to monitor his heartbeat and brain waves. All Six could do was hold onto Rex's tiny hand. "M-Mr. Six…I'm scared…" Rex said, a tear running down his cheek. "It's going to be ok, Rex…You'll see…" Six told him. He could almost feel his heart ripping into a million pieces in his chest at the sight of the frightened little boy. Rex didn't believe him. He could feel Six's hand shaking and knew that he was scared too.

They all waited for a few more minutes, but nothing else happened. Rex's skin was beginning to return to its normal color, and he soon fell into a deep sleep. Six was confused, and by the looks of it, so were Holiday and the other scientists in the room. What had just happened? Holiday went back to the microscope with Rex's blood sample.

Holiday could see that the nanites were still active, but unlike Rex's usual nanite activity when he was 16, these nanites were moving only sluggishly. They looked like they were just floating there rather than zipping around. There was also something else strange about them. They seemed to be attracted to Rex's blood cells, crowding around each one like hungry ants, but it didn't look like they were going anything to them. Just sticking against them.

Six still held onto Rex's hand, his other hand stroking Rex's hair and cheek. He didn't care who saw. He was never going to leave his side again. Not until he was back to normal. A gentle hand rested on his shoulder and Six tensed. He relaxed when he saw that it was only Holiday and turned his attention back to Rex. "Your back will start to ache like that…" Holiday told him, moving a chair behind him and gesturing for him to sit down. Six nodded a thank you and took the offer, too shaken from what had just happened to reject it.

Just then, Noah burst in along with Bobo. The blond boy gasped when he saw Rex on the table with Six and Holiday beside him. "Where have you two been…?" Six said, returning to his stoic expression. Noah could hear a hint of pure anger in his voice though. He paled. "W-we were just playing hide and seek with Rex! T-then we heard that he was hurt or something!" Noah stuttered. He looked at the little boy on the table. He could see the circles under his eyes, and he didn't seem peaceful at all. "You were supposed to be watching him…" Six said, his voice rising just a little. Noah felt so guilty. What had happened to his best friend while he wasn't looking? "Mr. Six…Don't be mad at Noah…please…" Rex said weakly, waking up from all the commotion. "Rex is right, Six. Even if he was with Rex the whole time, the same thing would have probably happened. It's not like Noah can protect him from an enemy attack or anything…" Holiday agreed. "Well what about Bobo? He should have been there, too." He said, still angry at them both.

Noah and Bobo said nothing. They knew that Six was right. They should have both been there the whole time to at least try and protect Rex. _I knew I shouldn't have agreed to play hide and seek…_Noah thought. Six turned back to Rex. "Go back to sleep, Rex. You need to rest." He said, continuing to stroke the little boy's hair. He didn't have to tell him twice. The boy was already nodding off again.

That day, Rex spent most of his time asleep. Noah was ordered to go home and Bobo retreated to his and Rex's room without a word. The time seemed to fly by, even though Six spent the rest of the day just sitting beside the table where Rex lay. Holiday came up to him, holding two coffees in her hands. She handed one to Six and sipped her own. "Don't you think you were a little too harsh on them?" She asked him. Six stared down at his own coffee. "No. They were both fools not to have been watching over Rex. They let their guards down just because Van Kliess hadn't made a move in a week. That shape-shifter did something to Rex and we still don't know what it is…" He said. _But hadn't I just promised to treat everyone better?_ He thought to himself. He was going to have to apologize later, even though he didn't really want to.

Holiday sighed. She remained quiet, listening to the beepineg of the machine monitoring Rex's heartbeat. She walked back to the microscope to continue studying Rex's nanites. This was going to be a long night. She sat down in her chair and was about to look into the microscope.

There was a sudden whimper. "Rex?" Six stood. Rex rolled onto his side, facing him, and curled up into a ball. "Rex, what's going on? Are you ok?" He asked, placing a hand on Rex's head. "Rex opened his eyes. They were glowing. His face was twisted in pain. "ERROR! Memory rewind failure…memory fast forward in progress…" Rex said, in a trance. The glow in his eyes started to fade, and his face seemed to show more and more pain. He began to whimper, and soon enough, scream.

Rex began to twist and turn again from side to side in pain, and Six had to catch him before he fell off the edge of the table. Six shook his head in disbelief. Was it just him, or was Rex actually _**growing**_?! Holiday turned back to her microscope hurriedly and looked through it. Rex's nanites seemed to be pushing through the membrane of the blood cells and going inside them. The blood cells seemed to be bubbling and boiling for a few seconds, but then went back to normal, and the nanines came back out of them.

Although it seemed like nothing had changed in the blood cells, Holiday guessed that those nanites somehow aged them, and the same was probably happening to every cell in Rex's body right now. She ran up to the table next to Six. Six took out one of his swords and started cutting at Rex's shirt collar. He was growing at such a rate that Six could see his cloths quickly getting tighter and tighter against his skin. At this rate, Rex could suffocate! Holiday understood what he was doing and quickly snatched his other sword from his sleeve and started cutting at the boy's pants. Rex was wheezing, trying to get some air in his lungs and finally managed to suck in a huge breath as soon as he was finally free of those tight clothes.

However, the pain was not gone yet, and he soon began to struggle and scream again. Holiday quickly grabbed the biggest hospital robe she could find and slipped it onto him as best as she could with the boy struggling like that. Six had no idea what to do. He was no doctor. He was taught how to take away lives, not save them. At least not medically. All he could do was watch again. "Why don't you give him pain killers or sleeping gas or something!" Six yelled over Rex's screams, unable to take seeing him like that anymore. "Memory is in the brain, Six. His nanites are working on the whole entire body including the brain. If I give him anything that messes with his nervous system, It could cause permanent damage to it!" She yelled back.

Six fell silent. All he wanted to do was leave. To get far away from the torture that Rex was going through. To at least not have to stay here and watch Rex suffer. But he couldn't do that. Even if he did, he would probably kill himself of worrying over the boy. How had he suddenly become so attached to him like this? Why did he even allow himself to?

Six broke out of his thoughts as Rex's scream began to dull down into a low groaning. His voice seemed less squeaky now. Six leaned over the table to get a better look at him. Rex had stopped growing. His face seemed like it had less baby fat, and Six could guess that he was about 10 years old now. More than twice his age about five minutes ago. Six placed his hand once again on Rex's head. Rex was silent. His eyes darted to look at Six's face before they closed and Rex fell unconscious.

**The next day…**

_Six looked around him. Everything seemed so big. Or maybe he was just tiny. He was a small boy on the island where he was trained by One along with the other four numbers. All of a sudden, a cocoon of steel began to form around Six where he stood. Six didn't fight it. He let it grow around him, letting it isolate him from the rest of the world and the shadowy forms that were starting to appear around him in the form of humans. Six could see through the cocoon. He watched as some of the 'people' came closer to his cocoon and bumped against it like zombies trying to get to him. Six did not fear them however. He could see them try as hard as they could to get through the cocoon, but to no avail. He was starting to grow into a man. His cloths changed from the cloths of a small boy to his combat suit, and finally to the green suit that he usually wore, working for Providence._

_Eventually, he could see some people who looked familiar. He could make out the silhouette of White Knight when he was still out on the field, Captain Callen, and Holiday. They seemed more persistent on breaking through his cocoon, but eventually, he could see them get bored and stop. He could see their dark black silhouettes change into what they looked like now at Providence as well. But something else caught Six's eye. There was a little boy standing a little bit far away, his back turned to him. Unlike all the other people that Six had seen, he was not a silhouette. He was real, and in color. Six's cocoon floated over to the boy, and the boy turned to him. It was Rex. He seemed to be around twelve. A huge smile beamed on his face and, and like all the rest, he started trying to get through the cocoon to Six._

_Six was quite surprised. The boy was actually succeeding at it. Six tensed. He didn't want the boy to get to him. He began ordering the cocoon to heal itself and make itself stronger every time the boy managed to break a piece off. Soon he could see the boy starting to struggle to keep up with the cocoon's healing and thickening and Rex started to panic. He began banging on the cocoon and yelling for Six to let him in. Six could see the boy growing older, and his clothes changed to the clothes that he usually wore when he was sixteen. Tears fell down Rex's face and he crouched down into a ball and hid his face, hugging his knees. Six was satisfied. Wait. Why was he satisfied? Because the boy wasn't able to get through to him?_

_All of a sudden, a silhouette of Van Kliess came and touched the boy's shoulder. Rex cried out in pain, and began to shrink. Six was horrified, worried about him. Wait. What was this sudden change of emotion towards the boy? _

_Rex was now four. Van Kliess's silhouette disappeared and Rex looked up at Six with renewed interest and curiosity and he again started to rip through the steel cocoon. This time, Six's cocoon didn't stand a chance. Rex was ripping off big chunks of its steel with ease, and soon he made a hole big enough for him to fit through. Wasting no time, he went in and tackled Six, hugging him tight and looking up at him with the most innocent eyes Six had ever seen. "I just want to be your friend…" Rex said. Six stood there, in shock. He felt such guilt mixed with a very warm feeling and couldn't resist crouching down and hugging the little boy back. Six could see his cocoon melt and disappear, and felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Holiday. Beside her there were Caesar, Bobo, White Knight in his metal suit, and Noah. They were all in color now. Holiday watched Six get up and smiled at him beautifully. This was his new family, as unlikely as they seemed. Rex kept a hold of Six's hand, and he started leading the way to the Providence base that seemed to form out of the ground before them._

_All of a sudden, the silhouette of the shape-shifter grabbed Rex, lifting him off the ground. Rex struggled against it, but couldn't break free. Six unfolded his twin swords and lunged for the silhouette, but thick vines grabbed him along with all the others and Rex was starting to scream. Six could see him grow, horrified. He struggled to break free from the vines, but to no avail. The silhouette just laughed evilly…_

"NO!" Six stood, pushing the chair back and making it fall over. Six looked around him desperately. He calmed when he noticed that he was in Holiday's lab and remembered everything that had happened with Rex up until this point. He realized that everything that he had just seen was only a dream. He flinched and twisted around when he felt a hand on his shoulder, only to find Holiday. She raised her hands, her eyes wide. Six followed her gaze down to his hands and noticed that he had drawn his swords. He stood strait and retraced them. "Sorry, force of habit." He said, stoically. "You must have had one hell of a bad dream, then. Glad I wasn't fast enough to wake you, or I would have probably been stabbed or something…" she said, turning around and walking around the table to where the machines beside Rex were. She took a clip board from beside them and began recording information.

Six could see dark circles formed under her eyes. She must have been working all night. Six looked down at the still sleeping Rex and sighed. He seemed more peaceful now. He still looked like a ten year old rather than the twelve year old that he was in the dream. "Holiday…" Six looked up to her. Holiday stopped what she was doing and looked up at Six. "mhmm?" she replied. "Did I treat Rex badly before I lost my memory?" Six asked. Holiday opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it, thinking of what to say. "I wouldn't really say badly…I mean you made sure that he was safe and got the training and everything he needed to stay healthy, but you were a little bit…harsh. I mean, you didn't really try to get close to him before, although he always tried to get closer to you…" Holiday paused. Six mentally kicked himself. _Way to go, Six…_He thought to himself. "But in the last few months before your amnesia, you were starting to get better." She smiled at him. Six let the corners of his mouth turn into a small smile. Holiday blushed, taken aback from the rare smile. She turned around, afraid that he would notice and busied herself with her work. Too late. Six had already seen it.

Rex whimpered, making them both shift their attention to him. "Rex?" Holiday placed her hand on Rex's head, stroking his hair. "Rex, can you hear me?" Rex opened his eyes into just slits and looked around him. There were two people at either side from him. Everything was still blurry. All he could make out was that there was someone in white to his right and someone in green to his left. Slowly, his vision cleared, and he could make out that the one in white was a woman…and a _hot_ one too! He looked around to the one on his left. It was a man in a green suit. Not so hot…He hoped that the lady wasn`t his girlfriend or something, or he wouldn`t have a chance.

Rex could see that the woman was trying to tell him something, and had to concentrate hard to keep awake. ``你说什么？`` **(what did you say?)** He asked. The lady repeated her question. _Wait, she's not speaking Chinese…_He thought. "¿qué has dicho?" **(What did you say?)** He asked again, trying Spanish. The lady looked at the green man and said something to him. Rex could barely keep his eyes open, let alone understand anything they were saying. He had a feeling he knew the language, but was just too tired to understand it. "What did you say?" he asked again, trying English. "Rex…rest…sleep…" Rex could hear the woman say. She definitely said more than that, but he was just too tired. He decided to just close his eyes and dose off again.

Six and Holiday looked at each other again and back at Rex. He was fast asleep again. "He spoke Chinese…" Six said finally. "How could you know that? All Asian languages sound almost the same to me." Holiday replied. "I picked up a lot of languages throughout the years." He answered simply. "While you were a mercenary?"  
"How did you…?"  
"I know you're a hired gun, Six." She replied. And with that, they both fell silent. Six realized that since his 'amnesia' he never truly had the chance to talk with Holiday about 'the old Six'. "So how much do you know about me?" He asked, curious.  
"well, not much, really. I know simple things like the fact that you put strange mints in your right inner suit pocket…" She replied, repeating what Rex had told them before when he confessed that he was scared of losing his memories of them. Six raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't going through your stuff, Rex told me…_He_ was going through your stuff…" She added, smirking and looking away. "You wouldn't remember, but he said it in front of you after that mission you both had in China." She continued.

"Tell me something Rex didn't about things that happened during the years I lost." He finally said after they fell silent for a few seconds. Holiday thought for a moment, then began to giggle to herself. "What?" He asked, raising an eyebrow again. "Rex probably _never _told you this." She said, bringing her laughter under control. "In a different mission we all had in china, there was this swarm of insect EVOs…" Holiday began. She told him all about the EVOs and how nothing worked until she sent Rex down to get a sample of their pheromones, only to get sprayed and almost drown in a lake, trying to get away. She told him how she had to strip him down and look for any remaining trace of the pheromones in his cloths to make more and defeat them with it before they got to an even bigger city. She finally told him about how Bobo got jealous of the fact that Rex had beat him at killing more of them and sent the info about Rex's motorcycle undies all over the news. By the end of it, Six face-palmed, shaking his head. He was trying his best not to smile, but was failing miserably. Holiday could no longer keep herself from giggling and she doubled over, shoulders shaking.

Rex stirred, and opened his eyes. What was all the commotion about? His head was still pounding and he was confused. Rex sat up. The last thing he could remember was running from those providence agents with the money that he had stolen from a bank near Quarry's hide-out. He could hear giggling and looked to his right to see the hot lady he saw earlier beside him. "Rex! You're awake!" She said, catching sight of him and hugging him tight. Rex's face became tomato red and he smiled. _Yup…she digs me…_He thought. He looked over to the green man to his left and raised his eyebrows at him. The man's face remained stoic. _Oh yeah…I can see you're jealous…_He thought, nodding at him with the most mischievous of smiles.

Six's eyebrows twitched in annoyance. That was definitely closer to the sixteen year old Rex he knew. "How do you know my name, lady? And where am I? Who are you?" He asked as the woman let go of him. The smile on the woman's face fell, and Rex could guess what had happened. "Oh no…not another black out…" He said, his own smile fading away. He felt for his pockets, but when he looked down, he wasn't wearing his usual white shirt with jeans. "Hey! Where're my clothes? Where's my book?" He asked, panic rising in his voice.

"Rex, calm down…you're in Providence –"  
Rex's eyes widened and he stared at the woman. _PROVIDENCE?!_ He thought. Six could see the expression on his face and placed a hand on his shoulder. Rex flinched and swiped it off. He ripped the wires off his chest and forehead, and tried to get off the table he was on, but he was still weak. He almost fell off instead and the green man caught him before he could fall on his face. Rex pushed him away and shakily stood on his own. He saw how Providence troops took EVO kids like him away never to be seen again. He feared for Tuck, who had seen him trying to get away from some of them and tried to help. Rex remembered that the troops hadn't been afraid to shoot him in the arm. Rex had figured that after he had fallen they must have grabbed him and took him like the rest of those kids. Horrible thoughts filled Rex's head about the torcher and experiments that he heard these people did to them. His thoughts raced back to Tuck. _What if they caught him too?!_

"What did you do to him you f #%ing freaks?!" He asked, stepping away from them. Six was surprised. Rex was an annoying teenager, but he never heard such language coming from him. He tried walking towards Rex, but the kid stumbled back, clearly frightened. "Rex, who are you talking about?" He asked, stopping. He didn't want to frighten the kid even more. "DON'T PLAY DUMB! I know what you guys do to EVOs! You kidnap them off the streets and experiment on them, don't you?! WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY FRIEND?!" he yelled. Six tried to force his stoic expression into something less stern. "You don't have to worry. We're not going to hurt you…" He said, slowly stepping closer to the boy. Rex spun around and ran for the door, placing a hand on it and ordering it to open.

The door opened wide and he ran out as fast he could, away from those creeps and into the white halls. Six ran after him, determined to catch up. _Well, at least we know his nanites are working fine…_He thought as he ran. Rex turned many corners, but they all looked the same to him. All the while, Six was following close behind. He couldn't let that man get him. Rex ran until he finally reached a large set for doors. He placed his hand on them ordering them to open and ran into a HUGE white empty room. He looked up around him and took in the details of the room. Above him on one of the walls seemed to be a window leading to another room. This room, however seemed to be a dead end. It was too late to go back now, though. The green man that had been following him came in, stopping in front of the door.

"Rex, just stop and listen to me." The green man said, stepping closer to the frightened boy. "NO! YOU'RE EVIL!" Rex stepped back with each step the green man took towards him. _Great, from a super hero to an evil man, huh Six?_ Six thought to himself. Rex was trying to walk around him in a way that he would finally manage to run past the man and out of this dead end, but as he did so the man faced him and walked to the side towards the door so that if he ever tried he'd be able to catch him. "Rex, listen! You've had a black-out. Providence isn't what it was before. Just stop and listen to me!" Six said, trying to get closer to Rex once again. Rex backed away until he reached the wall to the right of the entrance. As soon as the palms of his hands touched the wall, he could feel tons of machines hidden within them, all of them capable of doing great damage. _Great! Now I can fight this creep!_ Rex thought, his spirits rising. This room seemed to be some kind of training room.

Rex ordered the floor tiles under the green man and the ceiling tiles above him to come together and try and crush the man, but he jumped away in time before they could do so. _Damn it!_ Rex ordered two robots hidden under the floor to come out and attack the green man, hoping that they would serve as a good enough distraction to let him slip out of here. His plan worked and Six had to direct his attention towards the robots determined to kill him.

Rex ran out of the room and into the halls again, determined to find a way out. Sure, those robots would probably distract that man for some time, but he suspected that he had been training in that very room many times and would probably finish off those robots faster than he thought. He kept running until he finally managed to get to a room with so many huge screens and computers covering almost every wall. There was a glowing circular Earth in the middle of the room as well. Rex couldn't help but gawk at the amazing room for a few seconds before shaking his head and ordering himself to stay focussed. His eyes scanned the room, and he had to cover his mouth to stop himself from gasping out loud. There were providence troops everywhere! He ran to his right and hid behind one of the four counters surrounding the giant Earth in the middle of the room.

Rex stopped and began to think hard. If he wanted to get out of this place, he was going to have to get his hands on a map or something. If only there was some kind of hand-held device with him right now…oh how he wished he still had his precious book! Rex peered over the counter, scanning for anything that might be able to replace it. Bingo! Rex spotted a cellphone from across the room toward one of the computers under the biggest screen on the wall. "ah, f #%…" Rex cursed under his breath as he noticed the Providence trooper sitting beside it. How was he possibly going to get it now?

Just then, an announcement blared in the room, making him flinch. "Attention all providence troops! Rex Salazar is on the run. He is now around ten years old. Do not let him leave the building! I repeat! Do not let him leave the building! I need all troops to look for him _NOW!_"  
Rex recognised the voice of the lady he had met when he first woke up. All the Providence troops got up from their chairs and ran out of the room, unaware that he was in there with them. Rex waited as the last Providence trooper left the room and the doors swished closed. He stood back up and walked over to where he had seen the phone hoping that that Providence trooper hadn't taken it with him. He was in luck! It was still there!

Rex picked up the phone and placed a hand on the computer beside it. He ordered it to give him a map of the building and used Bluetooth to download it onto the phone. Rex stood there for a few seconds, thinking to himself. _Why don't I give Quarry a little something to prove my usefulness?_ He asked himself, smiling evilly. Rex placed his hand onto the computer once again and ordered it to show him the file of the man in green. He wasn't expecting the computer to know who he was talking about, but decided to try anyway. It gave him many files of different people, but as Rex continued to scroll down, he finally found the man he was looking for. Agent Six was his name. Rex got his email, phone number, and even his SIN. Rex's smile became wider as he used the information to hack into his bank account. His jaw literally dropped when he saw all the zeros and other numbers on his account. The man was a billionaire! _Ohoho…Quarry's gonna LOVE this…_He thought. He opened up Quarry's 'garbage bank account' as they called it. It was an account that Quarry emptied out every hour. His minions used it to send him stolen money from hacked bank accounts. Rex emptied the green man's every last penny into the garbage account and logged off, then closed the website.

Rex ran back towards the door. He ordered it to open just a slit so he could get a peek outside. Satisfied that no Providence troopers were there, he let the door open wide and ran out. Rex ducked behind every corner to make sure that there was no one in the halls, making his way towards the Providence garage. It seemed to be the only way out. Rex had no idea where he was or what he was doing here, but he knew that he needed to get away fast. He learned from his experience in that training room to stick close to the walls in case there were any other surprises hidden in them. Rex managed to stumble across a secrete stash of Providence guns, and grabbed one. If he was going to bump into any Providence troops, he was going to have to defend himself somehow. He suddenly wished he had Cricket's legs or Tuck's ability to change his limbs or slip through thin cracks, or squid's ability to cut through solid cement with his tentacles or spit smoke. All he was good at was hacking into systems and ordering machines around. Sure, it was a cool ability, but if there were no machines around, he was toast!

Rex ran up to one corner and ducked behind a wall. He checked again for Providence troops and was happy to find no one there. He walked out from the corner and was about to go to the next…  
"FREAZE!" Rex jumped and turned around, raising his own gun. In front of him stood two troopers, pointing their guns at him. "Drop the weapon!" One of them said. "Drop your own f #%ing weapons!" Rex replied back. One of the troops was about to phone in their coordinates with his communicator. "Doctor Holiday, we found him. He's at – AH!" Rex shot the trooper in the leg. He wasn't about to get caught. Not now. Not when he was so close to the exit.

The trooper that had been shot was now rolling on the ground holding his leg and groaning loudly in pain. "Hey!" The other one said. He was going to fire. Rex's eyes widened. He was going to get killed! "HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Rex blinked and looked towards the corner he had come from. Agent Six stood there. He walked over to the trooper pointing the gun at Rex and pushed his gun down. "We don't want to hurt you, Rex. Providence isn't the way he used to be." He said, softening his stoic expression and raising his hands to show he had no weapons. "LIARS! You shot my friend!" Rex yelled back.  
"Your friends are safe. They are currently in Hong Kong. We can get you proof if you want."  
"oh so you want me to stay long enough for you to experiment on me or something? Like all the other kids you take every day?!"  
"Rex, you're not listening. I told you that Providence isn't like that anymore…" _Or so I've heard…_Six thought to himself.

Rex pondered on what to do. He was scared. If he ran away now, what if the man caught him? What if the providence trooper shot him to keep him from running? Oh if there was only one of them, he could have taken him down and ran off. Well, he was going to have to try anyway. Better die trying than go willingly. Rex took a few steps back, then spun and ran, taking his gun with him. Keeping the cellphone with him, he followed the fastest route to the garage. He didn't care to look around any corners, knowing full well that the green man was close behind him again. He passed many troopers, each one catching sight of him, but kept running and the man in green kept yelling at them all not to shoot.

Rex ordered a set of doors to open and finally entered the garage. He looked around him, desperate for a way out. Before him, there was a large metal gate. He ran up to it and ordered it to open wide. What he saw shocked him. He was In the middle of the desert. Far away, he could see a city. It was night time now. Rex didn't know exactly what time it was, but he knew that it would take at least a day to walk all the way to that city in the distance. Maybe even more. "Rex!"

Rex spun around. It was the man in green again. "Rex, you have nowhere left to run. Just stop and listen to me." The agent told him. A gust of cold air hit Rex's back and he shivered, hugging himself. He was still in his hospital robes and outside, it was freezing. Panting, Rex looked around him. There had to be something he could get away with. This was supposed to be a garage! There! Rex spotted a Providence truck to his left. He knew he was probably too short to reach the pedals, and he didn't really know how to drive, but he could try and make his nanites do it for him! Ignoring the green man, and ran towards the truck. "Rex!" The green man ran after him. Rex ordered the truck door to open. Full of adrenaline, he rushed in, closed the door and ordered it to lock, right before the man could reach and pull him out. Placing his hands on the wheel, he ordered the truck to start. _FLOOR IT!_ He ordered. The truck did as it was told and rushed forward. It sped out through the gates and onto the sandy ground of the desert, Providence base soon becoming nothing but a white dot behind him.

* * *

**Author's note: Has anyone else noticed how messed up GenRex's timing throughout the series is? when he was in Hong Kong he looks like a teenager, and when Six found him he looks like a little kid! I had to fix it myself. Here, Rex was 10 when he was in china, and when Six found him, he was 12.**

**In Six's dream, i wanted the cocoon to symbolize his stoicness, and how he didn't really get close to anyone. Rex ripping the cocoon apart symbolizes how he was the only one able to truely get through to Six, which also gave Holiday and the rest a chance to get closer to him too.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Wow...that was fast. lol i laughed so much more than i should have when i realized that they were going to make Van Kliess bald when they were first designing the characters. I could only imagine the creaters going like: "hmm...nah, lets make him the oposite instead! long hair!"**

**Anyways, enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to review! xD**

* * *

Six watched as the stolen Providence truck became smaller and smaller in the distance, headed for the city. He knew that he had to get there and bring Rex back. "Six!" Six turned around to face Holiday who was running up to him. "Where is he?" she asked, panting. Six looked behind him at the tiny moving dot in the desert. "oh no...Caesar's going to kill us." She said. Six knew that she didn't really care for what Caesar was going to do when he found out. She always treated Rex with the care of a mother, and Six knew that she was beyond worried about him. "I'm going after him." He said, walking towards his own jet. "I want to go with you." She said, following him. Six didn't say a word as she climbed into the passenger seat. She was a tough woman, and was more than capable of taking care of herself. Six liked that about her. Six started the jet's engine, and they were off.

Rex struggled to keep control over the truck. He only stole vehicles when one of Quarry's men was around to drive it for him. He thought that it was easy, until he tried it himself. "Why do grown-ups like this stuuuuffff!" he screamed as he drove at maximum speed towards the city. If he was going to drive in there, he should at least try to slow down. It was dark enough for the police not to see that he was a child driving the truck, but they weren't stupid. If anyone noticed that he was speeding, they would stop him and find out. _Slow the f #% down!_ He ordered the truck. The truck suddenly hit the breaks to slow itself, making the truck jerk. The rear wheels lost contact with the ground for a few seconds and Rex screamed. The truck slammed back down with a thump as it continued onward at a slower pace. Slower, but still fast. _Ok, let's try that again. Please slow down. Little by little this time. _He ordered politely. The truck slowed down a little more, but didn't jerk this time. Rex was satisfied. The truck was now going at around 80 km/h. That should be good.

Rex thought about his life up until now...or what he remembered of it.**  
Flash Back:**  
_Rex walked along the street, feeling drained. He hadn't had anything to eat since he had woken up last morning unable to remember anything but his name. However, he turned out to have a handheld device he carried around that he like to call 'the book'. In it, he had apparently stored all the information he knew about himself before the memory loss he had even before. Unfortunately, that information wasn't much. Rex had no idea how to get some food. He had no money with him, and nothing valuable he could possibly trade other than his book (and he was definitely not going to trade that…). _

_Rex was out of it, staring into space as he walked, not really looking at anything or thinking of anything. All he knew was that he needed to keep moving. He couldn't even remember why anymore. The thought of looking for food to eat from a garbage can disgusted him, but he was getting desperate. He walked up to one on the street, shooing a stray cat away, and reached into it. He knocked it over, too lazy to keep standing, and crouched down and started rummaging through the fallen trash._

"_ugh..." Rex turned around to see a fat man in a black suit. He was balding, but definitely looked rich. The man was looking at him in disgust. He turned around and walked up to an ATM on the other side of the street. He pressed a few buttons, and a handful of cash came out. The man snatched the money from the machine and kept walking. Rex looked at the machine in interest. He got up and walked over to it, wondering how the thing worked. He pressed a few buttons, but all that came was a sentence on the machine's screen. "Access denied" it said. Rex sighed, putting his hands on the machine. __**I wish you'd give me money too...**__he thought. The machine suddenly whirred and began spitting out money to no end. Rex was beyond happy! He fell to his knees, stuffing as much of it as he could into his pockets. He was finally going to eat something hot today!_

_Suddenly, Rex heard clapping from behind him. He flinched, twisting around to see a big man who looked like he was made of stone walk out from the shadows along with two other monstrous looking men, who looked more like giant lice in suits. "You've got a pretty sweet talent, kid." The rock man said, walking towards him. He held out his hand to Rex. Rex ignored it and stood on his own. He remained silent. This guy looked dangerous. The man just patted his shoulder and knelt down to get a better look at him. "You know, I could use a useful talent like yours. What do you say? You come with me, and I'll give you protection, a place to stay, and good food in return for your services." He said, his one eye seeming like it was looking straight through Rex's soul._

_Rex thought for a while. Although the man's offer was tempting, he looked like trouble. He didn't want to get mixed up with any gangs. Rex shook his head. "N-no thanks. I can take care of myself..." He said, stepping away from the man. His back bumped into the machine, and he stumbled to the side, his eyes not leaving the rock man before him. "Listen, kid. I think that you should know that I don't really take 'No' for an answer." He said, getting up. He snatched Rex by the wrist and pulled him closer. Rex screamed. "You're comin' with me, kid." He said. The rock man ordered his men to pick up the money, still spilling from the machine, as Rex squirmed to get free. Rex tried punching the man's hand to get him to let go, but nothing worked._

"_HELP!" Rex screamed, hoping that at least one person would hear him, but it was night time. There was almost no one on the streets now. "FREAZE!" two troops in whit combat suits and black masks appeared out of nowhere. "Oh, great...GET THEM!" the rock man ordered. The two lice men lunged at the Providence troops, knocking them both to the ground. Fists were flying between them, and the rock man laughed as he watched both sides fight. He didn't notice his grip on Rex's wrist weaken, and Rex managed to slip away. Rex ran, in the opposite direction, trying to get away from them both. Rex kept running and running, not daring to look back. When he finally did, however, there was no one following him. Rex stopped and caught his breath._

_Rex felt in his pockets and pulled out a wad of cash. He was lucky. He figured that that ATM was just broken. That day he used his cash to buy a hot meal. He spent the rest of the week spending his money on food. He made sure to save as much of it as possible, knowing that it would soon end. When the money was finally all used up, Rex went hungry again. Rex didn't know where to find the ATM he had taken the money from a week ago. The streets looked too much the same to him. Eventually, though, he finally managed to find another street with an ATM. Rex placed his hands on the machine and silently wished for money again. But this time, he was paying more attention to his hands. As soon as he wished it, blue lines snaked from his hands and onto the machine. Rex gasped in horror! He couldn't remember anything about himself except for things that happened last week, but he was smart enough to know that this was anything but normal._

_The machine kept spitting out money, but Rex ignored it, too taken aback by what he had discovered to be his special ability. **If I can control this thing, then what other things can I use?** He thought. Rex broke out of his thoughts and began stuffing the money into his pockets. He looked up and noticed that there was a camera over the ATM machine. **Uh oh...**Rex thought. He reached up to the camera and pressed his fingers against its lense. **Erase the footage of me...**He commanded it. Blue lines snaked out of his fingers again and into the camera. Rex had no way of finding out if it actually worked, but it was better than doing nothing and getting caught. Rex walked away from the machine and the camera and headed towards an alleyway."HEY!" Rex flinched and twisted around. One of those troops that he had seen last week was pointing a gun at him. "FREAZE, EVO!" the man said. Rex froze and raised his hands, not willing to get shot. Someone put his arm around Rex's shoulder and brought him closer. Rex looked up and was horrified to see the rock man beside him._

"_Now, now, agent! You wouldn't really hurt a little kid, would you?" He said, keeping Rex close. Rex said nothing. Wherever this was going, the man was defending him. "Put your hands up, freak!" The trooper yelled, pointing his gun up at the rock man. The rock man didn't even flinch. In fact, he didn't even look like he cared. "you try and shoot me. It wouldn't end very well for you..." The rock man said, smirking. Angered, the trooper shot a bullet strait at the rock man's heart, and Rex screamed, looking away. A few seconds passed, but the rock man didn't fall. He didn't even move. Rex looked up. The rock man was completely fine! A bit of smoke was coming out where the bullet had hit, tearing a hole in his shirt, but no blood came out. In fact, his body wasn't even penetrated!_

_The rock man called up his men from the shadows and ordered them to attack him. Rex watched in horror as they beat the man senseless. One of them pulled out a knife from his suit pocket to deliver the finishing blow, and Rex buried his face in the rock man's side, unable to watch. "Boys, boys! Don't finish him, there's a child present." The rock man said, mockingly. He kept his hands on Rex's shoulders and gently pushed him away, kneeling down to stare into his face. "See? This is what I meant when I said protection, kid. You owe me now..." He told Rex, staring into his eyes._

_Rex was scared. The look in that man's eyes made his brain scream **DANGER!** Rex didn't want to end up like that trooper and unwillingly followed the rock man to his hide-out. "The deal still stands, kid." The rock man said, sitting down in his chair across a long table. His two 'boys' stood at each of his sides. "You serve me, and I'll give you protection, food, and a place to stay."  
"W-what if I don't..." Rex said, half unwilling to hear the answer. The man banged his fist on the table, making Rex flinch. "I'm afraid you owe me your life now, kid. You don't have a choice..." He said. Rex said nothing, and chose to accept his fate. From then on, every bit of money he stole was given to the rock man. He learned that his name was Quarry. Rex was sent on a lot of missions to steal things like jewelry, money, and even information. He learned what EVOs were, and he even learned to become tougher and colder. He was no longer afraid to hurt others to get what he wanted, and he picked up some extremely colorful language from the other goons working for Quarry. He even eventually learned to speak Chinese, too. _

_None of Quarry's men dared to mess with Rex, but if he ever disobeyed Quarry, Quarry would beat him and lock him up, so he only listened to his orders. With time, Rex started to despise Quarry. Every time the EVO man got mad, he would take it out on him, often beating him senseless. He just wanted to find a way to be free of his dept so that Quarry wouldn't follow him if he attempted to run away. He did that one time, and man did Rex regret it._

_One day, Rex was walking along a dark alleyway. He had just stolen a wad of cash from one of the ATM machines nearby. There, he found a kid his own age sitting on the floor and hugging his knees. From the rips in his clothing, Rex guessed that he was homeless, too. The boy was definitely EVO. He looked more like he was made of paper. Rex walked past the boy. The boy just sighed and looked away. Rex wanted to walk away, but kind of felt sympathy towards him. "Hey..." He said, walking towards the paper boy. The boy just looked up at him. "Are you hungry?" Rex asked. __**Why not pay for his food if I can just get more money later?**__ He thought to himself. The boy just looked up at him and blinked. "Come on! Treat's on me!" Rex told him, holding out his hand. The boy stared at it for some time, then took it and got up. Rex led him to his favorite restaurant so far. When they entered, all the people inside turned their heads to look at the two. The paper boy shied away and took a few steps back. "_嘿！退出盯着介意你自己该死业务，你会吗？" _**(Hey! Quit staring and mind your own damn business, would you?!) **__Rex yelled at the people. Everyone looked at each other, then stared at their food. The paper boy looked at Rex with awe. "_我需要一个表的两个地方，这些人不能盯着我们，好吗？"_**(I need a table for two where these people can't stare at us, ok?)**_ _He told the waitress. She nodded and led the way to the back of the restaurant. There, there was a table with crates for chairs. The waitress set two menus before them and left, telling them that she'd be back to take their order in a few. Rex picked a few things for himself and asked what the boy was ordering. When the boy answered, Rex thought that it was too little and ordered twice that amount for him when the waitress came. Although the boy objected, He gobbled them all up without even thinking when the food finally got to them. Rex didn't mind when the boy asked for seconds. He had obviously been starving for some time now._

_Rex learned that the kid's name was Tuck. He was pretty nice. Rex would ask Quarry for time off every day so he could hang out with him, but didn't tell him about his new friend. Quarry didn't really care as long as Rex came whenever he called. One day they stumbled upon an abandoned, empty wooden water tank on top of a building while they were roof running one night. At its side, there was a huge hole. Rex and Tuck looked inside, amazed at all the room. It was as big as a small house! Tuck liked it so much that he said if he could live here, he would! Rex thought of what he said long and hard. Why not? Rex went back to Quarry that same day and asked him if he could move out. "What?" Quarry laughed. "Where would you possibly go?" He asked. Rex shrugged. "I found a place…" He said, standing straight. The man stared at him with his one eye. "You know you still owe me, Rex. And you also should know that if you try to ignore me, I will come looking for you…" He said. Rex nodded. "I'm not running away…" He replied. The man leaned back against the back of his chair. "Fine." He finally said. Rex stared at him. He never expected him to agree so easily. "You still need to do what I say, kid. Or I'm coming after you…"_

_Rex remained quiet and walked out when Quarry told him he was dismissed. As soon as he walked out the door, though, he jumped with joy! Rex and Tuck started to live in the abandoned water tank. They stole all the food and other things they needed to survive, and Rex learned to build himself a small water system for showers by using his book and some random building's Wi-Fi to look up videos that taught him how to. Eventually, they found and invited more homeless EVO kids to live with them, including a humanoid Cricket girl and Squid boy they called Cricket and Skwydd. Rex couldn't help but think that Cricket was cute, despite her looking more like a bug than a human. Tuck thought so too. Soon the place was cramped with EVO kids! Later on, through the internet, Rex learned that little tiny machines in every living being were causing people to turn EVO. He figured that if he could manipulate bigger machines, than he could probably try to shut those things called 'nanites' down too. He tried it with a couple of people, but it didn't work at first. The machines seemed too stubborn to listen. So instead, he decided to try and force them to listen by ordering the corrupt nanites to come into his own body and order them to shut down then. Maybe he'd have more control over them? Even though there was a risk of him changing shape like the other kids did, Rex was willing to try._

_This time when he tried it, it worked! The EVO kids that were cured were so happy! They immediately went back to their families, wanting to see if they would accept them back now that they were cured. Rex was happy to see that they did. However, no matter how hard he tried, Rex was unable to cure three of the kids…They were Tuck, Cricket, and Skwydd. They didn't mind though. They never had families anyway. Rex enjoyed his time with his new friends. They became so close. They went roof running every night except Tuesdays, where they stole their groceries and some accessories for their hide-out._

_One day, when Rex was called over to Quarry's hide-out, he was ordered to come with Quarry to steal from a bank. Of course, Rex had no choice, so he went with him with no protest. Things were going smoothly until Rex was handed a gun and told to kill one of the police officers that was knocked out and lying on the ground. Rex was appalled. He refused to do it. Shooting him in the leg or arm was one thing, but killing was something unthinkable to Rex! "NO!" Rex said, pushing the gun in Quarry's hand away. "Get over it, kid!" Quarry said, shoving the gun into Rex's hands. "NO! You can't make me!" Rex screamed. Quarry went behind Rex and grabbed his hand holding the gun. He was about to press over Rex's finger on the trigger…  
"NO! I'LL DO ANYTHING! **DON'T MAKE ME DO IT!**" Rex screamed. Quarry had him right where he wanted him. "alright then, kid. You give me your friends, and you can walk away for good. I won't come after you. But if you don't…then I'll find you someone else to kill…" Quarry said beside his ear, patting Rex's shoulder._

_Rex returned home that day, shaking violently, worrying his friends deeply. They helped him to his bed and took care of him until he was asleep. Rex was given one week to decide what he was going to do. Hand his good friends over to Quarry to become his new lap dogs, or suck it up and kill some poor sole who was going to be in the wrong place at the wrong time? Rex couldn't choose. He didn't want to choose..._  
That was the last thing he remembered before going out on his other mission where Tuck had been shot by those Providence troops and he was caught.

Rex ordered the car to slow down a little more. He had seen signs a few kilometers away from the city that had said the speed limit there was around 50 km/h. He gritted his teeth, willing himself to stay focussed on the road. He blamed himself for not being careful enough to keep Quarry in the dark about his friends and their abilities. But he couldn't think about that now. He was on the run from Providence. Rex felt uneasy. He always felt that way when he sensed danger. He adjusted the mirrors of the truck and gasped when he saw a jet slowly gaining on him. He ordered the truck to go faster, no longer caring about the speed limit. He was soon beyond the city walls, and decided to ditch the truck, knowing that that would be what they were looking for.

He stopped the truck near a park that wasn't too far from the city walls, opened the door and hopped out, taking the Providence gun with him. Rex shivered in the cold wind that blew at him. He was going to have to steal himself some new cloths. He looked down at his hospital robes. They reached all the way down to his ankles. _What? suddenly ran out of child sized ones?_ The thought sarcastically, trying to calm his own nerves. Rex ran past the large park, into an alleyway nearby. He needed to get as far away from that truck as possible, knowing that they'd be looking for him around the area soon. He finally got out into another street and ran up to a blue car there. He decided to steal it and try to get to the middle of the city. He would have to keep moving for a while until he had gathered everything he needed to travel away from this city and through the desert. Guessing from the text on the signs in the desert, he was not in Hong Kong. If he was in the Americas, he was going to have to stow away on a ship or plane.

_Wait…why would I want to go back there?_ Rex thought, before starting the car. _Here, I'm free of Quarry…If I go back, he'll think I ran away and probably beat me again._ Rex shook his head. _Shut up and stay focussed!_ He thought, starting the car. He drove on at 30 km/h, so that if they ever managed to see the car, he wouldn't be suspected and followed.

Six landed the jet next to the parked truck. Both he and Holiday got out of the jet and ran up to the truck and opened the door. No one was there. Six's eyebrows twitched once on his stoic face. Deep inside, he was panicking. The streets were dangerous at night in the huge city, and Rex was still only a child. Even as a teenager he wouldn't have wanted him to be roaming the streets out this late, even if he knew that he could probably beat the crap out of anyone that tried to harm him. "Holiday, we need to fan out. He couldn't have gone far…" He said, stoically. Holiday nodded and ran to her right to look for the runaway kid. Six went the opposite direction. They searched far and wide, but found nothing. It was as if the boy had completely disappeared. Six and Holiday met up back at the jet. "Where could he be?" Holiday asked, worry lining her face. Six shook his head. "I don't know…by now, he could be anywhere…" Six replied, looking away.

Six called for back-up on his communicator. Things were getting out of hand, and he had a feeling that Van Kliess wanted this to happen. At first, Six wanted to bring Rex back on his own to try and gain the kid's trust, but that wasn't going to happen now. He was going to have to bring him in by force and then try and do that. He only hoped that Rex would believe them if they told him the truth. "Holiday, you know where Rex keeps his phone in his room, right?" Six asked. Holiday nodded. "I need you to go back and get it. Use it to call his friends in Hong Kong. You know, Circe and the others. They can help us gain back Rex's trust…" He told her. Holiday smiled and nodded again. She took his jet and left to get back to Providence.

Six stayed behind. He was going to keep looking for the kid even if it meant staying here all night. He looked at the truck. _If I were a frightened little runaway kid, where would I go?_ He thought. Six knew that the nanite event was supposed to have happened when Rex was 10. He also was told that Rex worked with Quarry before and figured that he must have met his friends there in Hong Kong around the same time. Six had remembered the dream that Rex had told him about when he was four and figured that Rex was talking about Tuck again when he said 'you shot my friend'. He also remembered that in the dream, Rex had told him that he was running away from Providence troops, and Six guessed that what he was carrying with him at the time was a sack of stolen money.

If Rex was smart, Six knew that he would try and make his way to the city's center and get himself lost in the many streets and alleyways there. If Rex could steal a Providence truck, he most certainly could steal any ordinary car on the street. He decided to go and start looking in the city center. At the same time, Holiday finally reached Providence base. She headed straight for Rex and Bobo's room and began searching for his cell phone. Bobo woke up and looked at her in confusion. "Holiday? What happened? Is da kid awake?" He asked, sitting up. "Bobo, where's Rex's cell phone? I need to call Circe." Holiday said, looking serious. Bobo noticed her expression and pointed to the lowest drawer on the dresser. She opened it and pulled out the phone, looked through his contacts and picked one, putting the phone up to her ear. "What happened?" the chimp asked, starting to actually get worried. "I'll tell you in a minute – Ah! Circe! I need you to listen to me…"

"WHAT?!" Circe could hardly believe what the doctor was telling her. Tuck, Cricket, and Skwydd were looking at her in confusion. "Yeah…Yeah, ok we'll be right there! Bye." She said, hanging up. Circe turned to her friends. "Rex is in big trouble! Providence is picking us up." She told them.

Rex decided to leave his stealing spree for tomorrow. All he wanted now was some place safe where he could hide from Providence and sleep. His head was still pounding and he felt so exhausted. Everything went blurry for a few seconds, and when his vision was back, he gasped. A truck came out of nowhere and Rex turned the wheel so hard that the car swerved sharply and hit a pole, causing the door to dent inward and rip, metal shards cut into Rex's left arm. Rex screamed in pain. Tears threatened to spill from Rex's eyes. _No…Crying's for babys…I am NOT a baby…_Rex thought, fighting them back. Slowly at first, Rex broke the loose shards free from the door, and shifted out of the driver's seat and into the one beside it. He then opened the other door and climbed out, taking the Providence gun with him. He knew that so many people must have seen his little accident and the police and Providence troops would probably be here any second. He gingerly cradled his injured arm that was holding the gun and walked away from the car, knowing that running might make it hurt like hell. Rex could feel blood drip down his arm, but was too scared to look at it. He knew that he was going to have to steal himself a first-aid kit and pull out the shards still stuck in his flesh and treat it soon. Rex walked over to another alleyway nearby.

It took five minutes for the Providence troops to pick Six up and five more for them to hear about and reach the scene of the accident. Six quickly got out of the Providence ship and ran to the car. His heart was beating fast and he was almost afraid to look into the obscenely dented car. He did anyway and was totally relieved to find that Rex wasn't there. His relief soon turned back to worry as he noticed all the blood in the car, though. Honestly, there was no way to know for sure that Rex was the one in the car to begin with, but Six couldn't help but worry. He walked up to one of the locals who had come out of their apartments to see what was going on, and asked him to describe the person that walked out of the car. Six was right to worry. The man described Rex perfectly. Six's heart threatened to explode.

Six followed the trail of blood into the alleyway that Rex had taken about ten minutes ago and out into a small system of more alleyways. He kept following the trail, going from walking quickly to jogging, and soon all out running. Rex seemed to be losing a lot of blood. Six finally reached a dead end, and there, Rex was sitting in the corner. He was hugging his knees and hiding his face in his arms with one hand over his injury. Rex had lost his way and when he ended up in the dead end, he felt too weak to go back. Rex felt so tired…all he wanted was to sleep. Rex felt Six's shadow stretch over him and looked up at the green suited man.

Six crouched down slowly and placed his hand on Rex's shoulder. "You're injured. Let me help you…" He said. Rex just kept staring at him. He was terrified, but his body just wouldn't respond. His face didn't even show how scared he was. Six figured that it was because of his injury and decided to carry him back to the ship. He got up and was about to lift Rex, but a red portal opened up behind him and he quickly turned to catch the claw that was aiming to cut his neck. He was forced to step back as Biowolf walked out of the portal before him. Rex could only sleepily watch. His brain screamed at him to run, but his body would not budge.

Biowolf used his other claw to swipe at Six again, but Six caught it with his other hand. Biowolf used Six's grip on him and kicked him in the gut, knocking him back against the wall. Six brought out his swords and held them out in a defensive position as Biowolf swiped at his head. Instead of hitting him, they hit Six's swords, and Biowolf grabbed onto them. Van Kliess came out behind him and walked over to Rex, keeping his eyes on Six as he smirked evilly. Six ground his teeth. Biowolf was pressing against his swords with such force that Six was barely able keep him back. Using this to his advantage, Six suddenly ducked and Biowolf's claws dug into the wall behind him. He was stuck.

Van Kliess had crouched down next to Rex, about to carry him. Six was angry now. He went closer to him and was about to swing his sword at the man's neck. Wouldn't it be better to finish him off once and for all? As he swung, though, a portal opened before him, and another behind him. Six felt a searing pain in his back, and cried out in pain. Rex cringed at the sound. Six now had a bleeding wound on his back that looked like an 'X'.

Six fell to his knees. Van Kliess slipped his arms under Rex's knees and behind his shoulders and lifted him up. Another portal opened up behind him, and he stepped back into it. "Bye, Agent Six!" He chuckled. Biowolf quickly got free and followed him. Six got up and tried to jump into the portal after them, but it closed, and he was too late.

Rex looked up at the man carrying him. Who was he? Why did he get him out of there? Was he EVO too? Or was he just one of those steam-punk cosplayers he sometimes saw in China in one of those conventions where he and his friends would go to steal anime and manga? Rex looked to the man's right at the big blue metal wolf walking alongside him. He was definitely EVO. "Master, would you like me to carry him for you?" The metal wolf asked. "No, that's alright. I will carry him myself, Biowolf." He replied. Rex shivered in the cold. The long-haired man smiled down at him kindly. "Don't worry, little one. It's warmer inside…" He said. Rex looked around him and finally noticed that they were no longer in the alleyway. Instead, he could see they were at the edge of a forest. Before them, there was a huge castle. Rex watched without a word as they entered the castle. The place looked very old and half crumpled. They kept walking until they reached a few stairs and the long haired man carried him all the way up and into one of the doors beyond them. There, they ended up in a long hallway. The man kept walking until they reached the very last door, and Biowolf opened it for him.

The room was huge. The walls were cracked, and their color was dull, but other than that, it was very clean and tidy. There was a huge bed against the back wall, and on both of its sides, there were two bedside tables. To the right there was a dresser, and beside it, a chest of drawers. The man set him down on the bed and pulled the covers over him. Rex was so tired. As soon as his head hit the pillow, his eyes started getting heavy. He felt a hand on his head as he closed his eyes.

Rex woke up in pain two seconds later as Biowolf pulled him over to the other side of the bed. _OW! What the hell?_ Rex meant to say, but instead, all that came out was a high-pitched groan. It took Rex a few seconds, but then he noticed that they were only doing that to be able to work better with his injured left arm. "Shhh, Rex…be patient." The long haired man said, taking his harm. Whatever he was going to do, Rex was sure it was going to hurt. The man gave him a folded towel and told him to open his mouth and bite down on it. Rex did as he was told, and the man began pulling out the shards of metal stuck in Rex's arm.

It hurt so bad, but Rex tried his best not to scream, biting down hard on the towel he was given. He couldn't keep the tears from running anymore, though, and turned his face away. It took the man about fifteen minutes to get all the shards out, then he began stitching the wound. By that time, Rex was already half out of it. His eyelids became heavy again, and he fell asleep, the towel falling out of his mouth and onto the bed.

Van Kliess smiled. He bet that he had gained Rex's trust now. This was going to be fun. Van Kliess was sure to enjoy making Rex believe that Providence was truly the evil organization. He could just imagine Caesar's face when he sees how much his bother would have learned to _**hate**_ him. But the person he really wanted to hurt was Six. He hated him most for always standing in his way and preventing him from gaining Rex's trust and alliance. He was going to make sure to make that man's stoic face crack with pain as his own student fights to kill him…


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's note: Whew...I just hit a massive wall of writer's block while i was writing this chapter. x( ugh i just hate when that happens. Oh, by the way, what do you think of the cover i drew for this story? **

**Also, YEY! I finally realized that I passed the 50 reviews goal i set for myself when I started this fic! I'm aiming for 100 now, so never stop reviewing okay? love you all!**

* * *

Six stood beside Holiday before the screen with White Knight's face. White had already gotten word of Rex's growth within the past few hours, but he didn't know that he had run away. They had just explained everything that happened that night, and the man was furious. "WHAT?! How could you lose him?" His fist banged on his desk. Six hadn't even been tended to yet, refusing to sit down and let Holiday stitch him up and bandage him before they told White the news. His back was stinging him like crazy, but he ignored it. Six said nothing and let the man rant. "We're lucky that he didn't just kill the man instead of shoot him in the leg! If he hates Providence now, he'd be the perfect weapon for Van Kliess to use! Rex can easily hack into and turn off all our security systems in just a few seconds…!" White went on.

"Are you done yet?!" Holiday cut him off. White Knight glared at her. "What was tha –"  
"We'll get him back okay? Can't you see that Six is injured and needs medical attention? If you could do better, why don't you try yourself instead of just sitting around yelling at people? Six at least tried, and more than half the time, he succeeds. So why don't you just cut him some slack?" She cut him off again. White Knight just squeezed the bridge of his nose and sighed. Even though he didn't like her tone, she sure was right. He looked up and noticed that Six truly was paler than usual. He looked down at the green man's feet and noticed that a small pool of blood was forming behind them.

White Knight's brows knitted in concern for his old friend and he dismissed them both. Holiday made Six sit down on Rex's table. She helped him take off his jacket and watched him take the shirt off too, then began cleaning his wound, trying to ignore how good he looked without them. (Hey, she is a single woman after all.) "You know, you're lucky it's not too deep or you might have actually been paralysed…" She said, trying to make the silence less awkward. "It's not the first one I've gotten…" Six said. That was true. There were various scars all over his back, chest, and everywhere else. Some of them looked like they used to be even deeper than this one.

Six zoned out. He was beating himself up about how Van Kliess managed to get away with Rex. He blamed himself for not staying by the kid's side from the very start when the shape-shifter had managed to get into the building. He was also mad at how he almost killed Van Kliess while Rex was still watching. He had just been so mad, that his judgement was clouded by anger. He was half glad that Breach had made him cut himself instead, knowing that if she didn't, the Petting Zoo incident would have happened all over again, and Rex would have trusted him even less than he already did.

Six flinched as Holiday gently cleaned his wound. It stung. "I need to go after them…" He said as she began stitching the wound. "No, you're staying here. If you move too much, you'll open up the wound again. Plus, it'll slow you down. You'll get yourself killed." Holiday replied.  
"Then what do I do, leave him with Van Kliess until it heals? Rex is in danger every second he's with the man. Plus, it will take weeks for it to heal…" Six said stoically. Holiday sighed. He was right. "Fine…but I'm going with you." Six said nothing. Holiday knew she wasn't really capable or needed to take care of the former mercenary, but two heads were better than just one. Bobo would probably come, too, knowing how much he cared for Rex, even if he never admitted it. She finished stitching Six's wound and bandaged it. Six got up and walked out the door, throwing his damaged suit jacket and shirt in the garbage before reaching his room to get changed into another one. No use in showing off a weak spot. Holiday followed him and waited outside. She wasn't going to let him leave without her.

Rex opened his eyes sluggishly. He felt terrible. His head was aching, his arm was _burning_ and he felt like he was too weak to move a muscle. Rex let out a small whimper, and felt a hand on his head. "Ah…you're awake." Rex looked to his left to see the long-haired man he saw earlier. For some reason, he seemed to look familiar, but Rex just couldn't remember where he had seen him before, or who the man was. Rex just blinked at him. "Hello there." The man said. Rex let out a small whimper again. His arm hurt. "Oh, please forgive me, little one. I don't have any pain killers for you to use. I know your arm still hurts." Rex blinked again. "I know you don't feel well right now, but that's because you lost quite a bit of blood. Don't worry, though. You'll feel better soon. Would you like some water?" Rex nodded and watched the man grab a glass of water from the bedside table. He gently slipped his arm under Rex's shoulders and tilted him up, bringing the glass to Rex's lips.

Rex greedily gulped it all down and when the man asked if he wanted more, he nodded. The man filled the glass and Rex drank half of it this time, then he put it back on the bedside table and lay Rex back down. Feeling a little bit better, Rex gulped and tried to speak. "Why did you save me…?" He asked weakly. Van Kliess smiled. "Why, because the Pack leaves no man or child behind, of course." He said. Rex was confused. "What do you mean?" he asked.  
"Don't you remember, Rex? We're you're friends!" Van Kliess's smile disappeared when Rex looked blankly at him. "You've forgotten again, haven't you…?" he said. Rex frowned. _Forgotten? __**Again**__…?_

Van Kliess sighed. "My name is Van Kliess. I am the Pack leader, King of Abysus. The Pack is a group of EVOs that you joined just a few months back. What is the last thing you remember?"  
Rex described the last moments that he remembered where Tuck was shot and he fell.  
"Ah, that was when we saved you…" Van Kliess said.  
"Saved me?"  
"Yes. Breach had found you at the time and saved you from those Providence troops trying to capture you. She's the one that can make the red portals, connecting any two places together. She brought you here, and you've stayed ever since."

Rex listened in confusion. He remembered none of it. It was very possible that what the man was saying was true, but Rex remembered that in what his book told him about his previous blackouts, he had apparently forgotten _everything_ about himself except for his name. Why was this time different? Rex decided not to care. Besides, maybe this time, he was just plain lucky to remember some things of his past. Rex decided to ask the million dollar question: "Why are they after me?"

Van Kliess fought back the urge to smirk. "Because you are the only cure. The only one who can turn people back to normal. But what they don't understand is that some of us would die without nanites, and others like their new abilities. Most of us in the Pack are incurable, Rex. And those who are not cured…are dealt with…if you know what I mean." He pretended to be pained by what he was saying. Rex fell for it. His brows knitted in concern.

Van Kliess smiled sadly and patted the boy's head. "But you don't need to think of that now. You just Rest." He said. On the inside, he was smiling. _Everything's going according to plan…_  
There was a knock on the door and Biowolf came in, carrying a tray of food. They were a plate of what looked to be soup, and a glass of milk. "Ah! Thank you, Biowolf." Van Kliess said. The man slipped his arm under Rex's shoulders again and helped him sit up. Biowolf placed the tray in Rex's lap and helped Van Kliess place pillows against the bed's back for Rex to lean on. He finished helping and left the room.

"Uh…Thanks…" Rex said, taking the spoon on the tray in his hand. Rex scooped some of the soup up with it and was about to place it in his mouth, but his hands were shaking so much that it was almost impossible. Half the soup fell off the spoon and onto the trey before Van Kliess took it from him, smiling. "Here, let me help…" He said. Rex blushed. He wasn't a baby! He didn't want anyone to spoon-feed him!  
"There's no need to feel embarrassed…unless you want to spill it all over yourself." Van Kliess said, waving his hand like it was no big deal. Rex didn't like it, but he let the man feed him. He was right. Getting food all over himself would just make him look more like a baby than this.

Six walked into the Providence ship that was about to leave for Abysus, followed by Holiday and Bobo. He sharpened his swords as they waited to finally get there, the ringing of metal against metal echoing against the walls of the ship's interior. They had brought many Providence troops with them, just like last time, to help with bringing the Hispanic boy back. Together, everyone but Six was huddled around a table with a picture of the three kilometer diameter around Van Kliess's castle, which was taken the very first time they had to bring Rex back from there. They were using it as a map, making a strategy on how to get in, capture Rex, and get out. But Six wasn't listening. All he could think about was the small child that was once Rex. He thought of the many things that they did as he watched over him while Caesar was away. Six stopped sharpening his swords and pulled out a picture that Rex had drawn of them all from his left inner suit pocket. The one where him, Rex, Caesar, Holiday, and Bobo were holding hands. He remembered how the kid called him a super hero and insisted on making him play with him, and how he used to snuggle up against him at night and cling to his shirt…

Six gave the smallest of smiles. It had only been about an hour since the kid had run away, but he already missed him deeply. Six's smile disappeared when he remembered how the boy had grown up six years within the last few hours and forgot all about him again. He thought of how he had been so frightened when he learned that he was in Providence, and the look of terror in his eyes as he tried to get away from his mentor. Just like the Petting Zoo incident…  
Six held the paper tighter between his fingers. _All my fault…I shouldn't have killed that EVO…I shouldn't have left for that mission either…What if Van Kliess hurts him? What If he's scared in some cell in the dungeon…?What if –_

Six broke out of his thoughts as Holiday gently placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked back at her. She smiled at him beautifully. "He'll be fine…Van Kliess only has use for him alive and on his side, right?" She told him as if reading his mind. Six paused, but then nodded. He folded the drawing and put it back in his pocket, then allowed the other troops to fill him in on the plan.

Van Kliess walked down the stairs and into the main hall of the castle. After Rex was fed, he had tucked him in and left him to rest. So far his plan was working perfectly, and by the time he was done, Rex would have become his perfect little side-kick. Van Kliess smiled to himself, proud of his progress so far. He walked farther into the castle where the ball room was supposed to be and sat down in his chair. He called for Biowolf, and the metal wolf servant came out from the shadows. "Yes, master?" he said. "Are the preparations complete yet? They will be here any minute…" Van Kliess said, looking down at him with superiority.

The metal wolf shook his head. "Not yet, master. Breach is still busy taking in the soil of Abysus. She will be done shortly, though…"  
"Good. Tell her to hurry. I want to move on as soon as possible."  
"Yes, master…" Biowolf bowed and walked out of the room. "Scalamander!" Van Kliess called.  
"Yes, master?" The lizard man said, coming in from a hall to his right.  
"Go keep watch on the highest tower. Be sure to blow the horn when Providence comes into view…" He ordered. "Yes, master…" The lizard bowed, leaving through the same door that Van Kliess had come through.

Van Kliess called for all the other EVOs that lived within the castle and separated them into groups. One group of about twenty EVOs would stand guard in the main hall. Another larger group of EVOs would stand guard around the walls of the castle, and another would stand guard on the other side of those walls indoors. The last group, which was also the smallest of them, would stand guard on the inside and outside of Rex's room and in the bedroom halls. Van Kliess wasn't going to let them take back the boy this time. Besides…he had an even bigger trick up his sleeve. All this was just in case they needed more time…

Van Kliess smiled to himself. Oh, how he wished he had some way of seeing their faces when they saw what he was about to do! But unfortunately, there was no way to do that. He could just imagine their horror…  
Van Kliess chuckled. _This is going to be so much __**FUN!**_

The plan was to try a more direct approach. The Ship was going to drop Six, Holiday, and Bobo one kilometer away, then fly off to the castle to be seen on purpose. They knew that Van Kliess would probably be expecting Six to sit this one out because of his injury, and would think that the lone Providence ship would be the only one that came to save Rex. That way, the Providence troops would serve as a decoy again while the team made their way and snuck in through one of the routes that Circe had told them of over the communicator. Currently, she was still traveling with the rest of the gang from Hong Kong to Providence base, but she was given a Providence Communicator to keep in touch with the team and tell them how to get through the castle without being detected.

The Providence ship dropped them off, and they began with phase one: Reach the castle. Same as before, they started moving, this time on their hover boards, carful to slip past any EVOs patrolling the area, who seemed to be more in number than the last time. It took them about five minutes to get half way there, when they heard the horn sound. The troops were starting their part of the plan. Six could hear the EVOs that they had passed earlier start running towards the sound, and he waited, hidden, until they passed, then left his board where he stood and walked out of his hiding place along with Bobo and Holiday.

"Great. Now go to the tree that looks like a swirl and look at the ground in front of it. There, you'll find something that looks like a stone tile. It's loose, so lift it, and you'll find a secret passage inside. I found it once when I got bored. 'Don't think Van Kliess knows about it…" Circe said through their communicators. Six did as he was told and found the tile. He lifted it, and under it he found a ladder that led to a stone passageway. Bobo went in first. Then Holiday climbed down after him, and finally Six. Six pushed his way past them both and they all turned their flash lights on. Six led the way.

"Good. Now keep going forward, but make sure to keep your eyes peeled for an entrance to your left or right. There's only one, but I can't remember on which side. Anyway, it'll lead you to another hallway. Keep going and that'll take you to another ladder that leads you to Van Kliess's garden…or cemetery…" Circe said. Six found it and finally reached the ladder. He climbed it and pushed up another stone tile. The tile hit something! Six dropped down the ladder and let out his twin swords. He was sure that the stone tile made enough noise for someone to notice. He waited for sixty seconds, but no one came, and no sound was heard from above. He put his swords away and climbed back up, then slowly lifted the tile and moved it aside slightly. He peeked, and above him, there was a stone figure of some sort. Six made sure that no one was around and shifted the tile to his left, then climbed out and helped Bobo and Dr. Holiday. They crawled out from under the stone figure and looked back at it. It was an EVO turned to stone. The same giant iguana-like EVO that Caesar had knocked out the last time they were here. Six figured that that was the EVOs punishment for being unable to stop them from getting into the castle.

"Thanks, kid. Any suggestions on where to find him?" Six asked through his communicator. "I think you should probably look in the dungeon and the bed rooms first. If he's not there, then check the lab. I think he'd be in one of them though. The bedrooms are upstairs. I'll be here in case you need to ask for directions…" Circe answered. Six walked to the door. He made sure no one was there, then entered. Holiday and Bobo readied their blasters as they followed him inside.

Six decided to check the dungeon first. "So where are the dungeons?" Six asked. "Ok…you must be in near the main hall right now. There, you'll find an exit to the left. Go in there and you'll eventually end up in the dungeon." Six cautiously moved over to the large set of double doors before them. It was already open just a slit. He peeked inside, then hastily moved back against the wall. "There are EVOs standing guard in the main hall. Any other ways into the dungeon?" He asked stoically, bringing a hand up to his communicator. Circe was silent on the other end for a few seconds. "No…I'm afraid there isn't…" She said. Six sighed. He needed to get in there…looks like there was no other way…

He looked at Holiday and Bobo, who were listening in on the conversation and nodded to them. Holiday was already out within two seconds. Bobo went in after her and started shooting. Alarmed, the EVOs were caught off guard, and those few seconds were all Six needed to knock out five of them in a row. Holiday knocked out five more, and the last ten tried to run, but were knocked out by Bobo and Six before they could go warn someone. Not that they needed to. The commotion was enough to let anyone know that they were here. Hopefully, the rest of the EVOs would think that the people who had knocked them out were a group of Providence troops rather than Six, Holiday, and Bobo, since no one would be able to tell them otherwise.

Six ran with Holiday and Bobo close behind to left of the entrance where they came in and took the exit that Circe was talking about. Then they followed the hallway until they reached rows and rows of barred doors. Most of them were empty. Others were filled with bones or EVOs that had been turned to stone. Rex was nowhere to be found. No surprise there. You'd expect for at least one guard to be in the dungeon if he was. That meant that he was either in one of the bedrooms, or in the lab. Six led Holiday and Bobo out of the dungeon and back into the main hall. "Circe, he wasn't there. Where are the bedrooms again?"  
"Go to the main hall…"  
"Already there."  
"Ok. Now there are stairs right in front of you. Go up and take the first door to the right. There's a long hall there that leads to many bedrooms. The door next to it leads to another hall that contains another set of rooms. Don't go to the doors on the left, though. Those just lead to another hall with another set of stairs that lead to the towers and a lot of other rooms that have no use."

Six did as he was told and opened the first door to the right just a slit before closing it again, signalling for Holiday and Bobo to stay quiet. There were EVOs inside. Six decided to peep through the other door. Yup, EVOs in there too. They were going to have to pick one and attack. Six decided to just open the door he was currently at and attack straight on. This time, the EVOs seemed to be more prepared, probably because they had heard all the commotion while they fought the EVOs in the main hall. It didn't really matter. It still took Six only a few seconds to knock most of them out and a few more for Holiday and Bobo to deal with the rest.

Six's face became even paler than usual and he was sweating. His injury was stinging him, even though he had taken painkillers recently. He suspected that he had ripped the stiches that were sealing the wound, but ignored the pain and stood strait. Holiday noticed anyway. "Six, you're getting tired, aren't you." She asked, worried about him. Six just shook his head. "I'm fine."  
Holiday sighed. _So stubborn…_  
They proceeded to open each door and look inside for Rex, but he seemed to be in none of them, so they went back out of the hall and to the first door that they had come by before. Six opened it and they began their attack…

Rex woke up to the sound of banging and roaring coming from outside his room. The sound startled him, but it wasn't the first time he heard sounds like that. He almost woke up every day and night to that sound when he still lived at Quarry's hide out. Rex looked around him weakly and noticed that there were several EVOs in his room, watching the door as if it had a ticking time-bomb on it. Rex was about to yell at them, asking why they were in here while he was sleeping, but one of the EVOs closed Rex's mouth before he could and held up a finger to his mouth and nose, telling Rex to remain quiet.  
Rex did as he was told and stayed that way while the banging sound seemed to be getting closer and closer to the door. Something definitely wasn't right here.

Someone kicked the door open from outside, and Rex caught a glimpse of the pretty scientist lady he had seen in Providence, before all the EVOs in the room lunged for her. There was gun fire going off, and several of the EVOs fell before they could even reach her. Rex hoped that they weren't dead…  
Those who were not shot down were body slammed by the man in a green suit, and others were blasted against the walls by a monkey that Rex hadn't seen before.

Rex quickly sat up and regretted it when his head began to ache and the room started to spin. He knew he was too weak to run, and he was bound to be captured. _Wait…what was that name that Van Kliess told me to call if I needed help? Brea...Brea…  
_"BREACH! HELP!" Rex screamed as they started to come closer to him. Although they would have never known, Breach had left a portal the size of a dot in Rex's room, just like she did in the amusement park when he was four. Van Kliess had ordered her to come to his aid as soon as she called for him. Rex felt a sudden chill down his spine that he never really remembered feeling before.

Breach popped out of nowhere, dropping down the ceiling and landing on her butt on the bed beside Rex. She hugged the boy tight. Rex felt that the girl was familiar but couldn't exactly remember her. He didn't really care about that now as long as she kept those creeps away from him. "You're not taking my favourite away this time!" She said playfully, one of her skinnier arms playing with Rex's hair.

Six ground his teeth. He could see Rex visually shaking in Breach's arms and it hurt. How did this happen? Rex was scared of them and on Van Kliess and the Pack's side. If this was opposite day, Six was resenting it. Was this even the same boy that had been clinging to him all week and begging him to play? "Let go of him and step away, Breach." Holiday said, each word as toxic as a snake's venom. She aimed her gun at Breach's head. Six knew that she was faking it. She would never harm any human or EVO that was in his or her rightful mind, although he doubted Breach was. He had seen her shoot the EVOs that they had fought only in the non-fatal areas of their bodies.

Breach just laughed, maybe thinking the same thing. "Oh, really? I'm soooo scared!" She laughed again. "Sorry, but everything is ready now, and we don't want any stow-aways coming along!" She said. Holiday's and Bobo's eyes widened, and behind his glasses, so did Six's. "Wait! Where are you –"  
Six was cut off as a red portal swallowed them from above and they were suddenly on a cliff near the place that the Providence ship had first dropped them off. They weren't alone for long. Soon, there were more and more Providence troops spit out from red portals around them. They looked before them at the castle that stood in the distance. At first nothing happened, and Six was already making plans to get back there as soon as possible, but what he saw shocked him.

A _HUGE_ red portal opened above the castle, and it slowly started swallowing the massive building little by little. Six watched in horror. Rex was still in there! He stood there, unable to breathe as the portal finally closed, leaving a crater where the castle once stood. It was gone now, and so was Rex…

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**Sorry this chapter is a little bit shorter than the others. Like I said...massive wall of writers block DX**


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note: Aw man...its like very VERY few people are making fan fics of GenRex now. xc i'm so sad!**

* * *

Six was leaning his back against the wall of Holiday's lab beside the door. He watched the doctor stare into her clip board, not really reading or even doing anything at all. She had been doing that for hours ever since they had returned from Abysus. Six looked away from the doctor and at his shoes, thinking about what had happened at the castle within the hour before it disappeared. He remembered how Rex had been clinging onto Breach and trembling in fear from him, instead of clinging to him and trembling in fear from Breach. His fists clenched until his knuckles whitened. They had begun their search for the missing castle worldwide ever since another Providence ship came to pick them up and they reported the news to White Knight. But so far, they found nothing.

Circe and the rest of the gang finally managed to get to the base. Circe was immensely upset when they heard that Van Kliess had gotten Rex. The rest of the gang never really met Van Kliess, but they had heard how bad of a villain he was from Circe. They offered to help look for him, but let's face it…there was nothing much they could do.

"What if we never find him…?" Holiday barely whispered. Six heard her and looked up. She was still seated, staring down through her clip board. Six pushed himself away from the wall and walked over to her. He stood beside the chair she was sitting on. "What if we never see him again, or hear his voice…?" Her voice cracked in pain. Six looked down at her face and noticed a tear run down her cheek. Holiday stood up and was about to walk blindly past Six, but he gently put his hands on her shoulders. "Holiday…" She looked at him, surprised that he even made contact with her at all. Six looked into her eyes through his glasses, then suddenly pulled her into an awkward, but unwavering hug. Holiday paused, unsure of why the former mercenary was giving her a hug at all. She remembered Rex and could no longer stand the pain of losing him. She began to sob uncontrollably into the man's chest, hugging him back like a life-line, shoulders shaking.

They stayed like that for a long while. Six finally allowed his face to show how much pain he was really in. He hated seeing Holiday like this. He hated the fact that they had just lost the person they both considered to be their son. Yes, he was finally admitting to himself that he truly loved Rex like a son. But the boy was gone now. He feared them both and was now with the enemy he no longer remembered. He was now with Van Kliess, the madman who had tried to capture him and force him to work for him ever since Rex was fifteen.

Six heard footsteps and looked to the direction they were coming from. He felt Holiday finally push herself away from him, feverishly wiping the tears from her face with her sleeves, apparently hearing them, too. Six looked at the person's face and goofy grin and thought that it was teenage Rex at first, taking a step towards him. He suddenly stopped when he noticed that it wasn't Rex at all. Caesar stood there, happy as can be. He was carrying some sort of machine that looked more like a mini spider robot between his hands. "Hello there, Six, Holiday! Where's mijo?" he asked, like he couldn't wait to show him the new thing he made. Holiday put a hand up to her mouth to supress a sob, tears running down her cheeks, and Six looked away.

Caesar's smile disappeared and he dropped what he was holding. The sound of the delicate machinery breaking echoed in the silent lab. "No…No…what happened? Where is he?!" Caesar cried, panicking. When he got no answer, he turned on his heels and ran out the door. Caesar ran throughout the halls, calling his brother's name hysterically, willing him to just pop out of nowhere and show that adorable smile…but he didn't. He continued to run, looking through every door, in every room, but his brother just wasn't there. He'd run past several Providence troops and they would just watch him sadly as he ran.

Caesar could feel desperate tears fill his eyes, and he wiped them away, trying to focus on finding his precious little brother. _There's no way! No way I'm losing him too! NO WAY! _No matter how hard he looked, though, he found no one…  
Caesar finally ended up in his lab. He looked to the counter where Rex usually sat to draw and color, but the boy wasn't there. "Rex?! Rex, quit playing around and come out!" Caesar called, looking around him desperately. His eyes fell on the big dinosaur plushie he had won Rex in the amusement park, and he walked over to it. He picked it up, sat down on the chair in front of the counter it was on, and hugged it tight. Caesar could no longer supress the tears and they fell like an endless river of sadness. He couldn't stop hiccoughing as he buried his face into the soft toy. His brother was **_gone_**. Why? How? Where was he? Was he just missing, or…or worse?

Caesar needed to know. He got up, and ran out of his lab all the way back to Holiday's, taking the plushie with him. When he finally entered the lab, he stopped. Six and Holiday were still there. Holiday was sitting back down in her chair and Six was leaning against the counter beside her. They both noticed Caesar come in and stared at him.

Caesar dropped the plushie and walked over to Six. He grabbed the collar of his shirt and the green man allowed him to yank him to his feet. "WHERE IS HE?!" Caesar screamed into the older man's face. Six didn't even bother to hide his emotions behind a stoic face. He could see the still wet tears on Caesar's face. Six's eyebrows knit and he began to speak softly to the older Salazar. "He was captured, and they disappeared…" Six told him, putting his hands on Caesar's shoulders, trying to calm him down. He didn't have to tell him who took Rex. Caesar already knew. Six could feel Caesar's hands shake as he kept a hold of his shirt collar. "YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T LET ANYTHING HAPPEN TO HIM WHILE I WAS GONE! YOU SAID HE WOULD BE FINE!" Six said nothing. The elder Salazar was right. "Is he alive…?" Caesar finally asked after a long pause. "Yes." Six nodded. "We went to Abysus and tried to get him back…but Breach portalled us out of the castle before she took the whole thing away. Rex was still in it…" Six continued. Caesar stared through the green agent, the anger suddenly disappearing from his face. His knees grew weak and Six caught him before he fell. Six took one of the scientist's arms and slung it around his shoulders. Holiday took his other arm and they half dragged him to Rex's table. They helped him sit down as the scientist shook, covering his face with his hands after they let go of his arms. Six placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. From the looks of it, Van Kliess was treating him well. I don't think he plans on harming him…" Six said. Caesar didn't look up, but nodded. Six promised Caesar and Holiday that he was going to spend every bit of time he had to find the boy no matter how long it took…

**Two days later…**

It had been two days since Rex had been kidnapped, and there was still no sign of the castle. White Knight kept making sure that every Providence headquarters in every country around the world was looking for the kid, but so far they had no luck finding him. Holiday kept checking the radars every minute for a biometrics signal or any other indication that Rex was out there somewhere. Six called some of his many contacts as a former mercenary who owed him to help search for the kid and the castle, but even they found nothing so far. Caesar had become a second Six within the past couple of days. He never smiled, and spoke even less than Six himself. Whenever someone asked him a question he would either nod or shake his head, and if an answer was required, he would make it short instead of rant away like he usually would. He was looking for Rex by hacking through the internet in search for any reports on Rex in hospitals, police offices, jails, public places, etc. He even occasionally went out to look for the boy along with Circe, Tuck, Cricket, and Skwydd and report him as a missing person in many different countries. He tried to find Van Kliess over the internet. Surely the man used it at least _sometimes_! But unfortunately, there was no trace of him anywhere…

Rex got out of bed and swayed on his feet just a little. He had been in bed and unable to walk for two days, but now, even if his arm still hurt a little, he was feeling great! He walked out of the room, and in the hall. He looked down at his new cloths. He was wearing a dark brown shirt and a pair of jeans that fit him perfectly. Breach had gotten them for him yesterday, opening portals so that he could look around and pick what he wanted from the stores that she visited. It was hard getting them on on his own, but it was better than having Van Kliess help him with them. He was no baby. Helping him get dressed was crossing the line.

Rex went down the stairs and walked into the main hall, looking around and taking in all the detail of the building. He walked into the ball room, and was greeted by Van Kliess, who was sitting in his throne at the back wall. "Hello there, Rex! You seem to be full of energy today!" He said, getting off the throne and walking towards the boy. Rex was caught off guard as Van Kliess ruffled his hair. He looked up at Van Kliess in confusion. He never had someone treat him like this. Like someone who mattered. He liked it. Rex smiled, and Van Kliess smiled back. He wrapped his arm around Rex's shoulders and brought him closer, carful of his arm. "I'm glad you're feeling better! Would you like a tour of the castle?" He asked. Rex nodded, and they started walking.

They entered the main hall and took the exit to the right side of the castle entrance. They kept walking along the hall until they reached a row of doors at each side of the hall. Van Kliess led Rex through the first one to their left, and they ended up in a large kitchen. All the EVOs inside looked up, surprised, and quickly bowed to their master. Van Kliess waved to them, smiling kindly "this is the kitchen, as I'm sure you've already noticed. You'd be surprised at how well these people cook." He said, looking down at Rex. The smell from inside was so good, Rex's mouth threatened to water. Rex hadn't woken up in time for breakfast today. Van Kliess noticed this and chuckled. "Don't worry, little one, you'll get to feast with us in a little while…" He said, smiling. Rex nodded. He was impressed at how all the EVOs in the kitchen seemed to adore the long-haired man. Rex noticed that some of them just couldn't help glancing at the two every little while.

Walking out of the kitchen, they then walked to another one of the doors and went inside. The place was filled with machines! "Woooow…." Rex awed, turning around in place as he looked around the room. "You like my lab?" Van Kliess said, watching the boy. "It's so cool! Are you an inventor or something?" Rex replied. The man just laughed. "Yes I am. But don't touch anything or you might get hurt. Everything in this room is dangerous, so make sure not to activate anything, alright?" Van Kliess said. Rex nodded, stepping away from one of the devices he was looking at.

The room next to that one was the mess hall, where all the EVOs would gather to eat. The room was HUGE, filled with rows and rows of tables and chairs. Rex noticed that there was higher ground at the back of the room with a lone table. Around the table, there were five chairs. "That is where we usually eat along with Breach, Scalamander, and Biowolf…" Van Kliess said, pointing at that same table. Rex had met Scalamander already and supressed a gag when he remembered the tall drooling lizard man.

Van Kliess led Rex back into the hall way from which they came and they walked back to the main hall. "Wait, what about the other rooms?" Rex asked. "They don't have anything inside. I haven't found a use for them yet." Van Kliess replied. They entered the main hall and went upstairs. They entered the first door to the left and walked along the wide hall until they reached a row of doors to their right.

As Van Kliess passed the second door, it opened and Breach walked out. "Van Kliess!" She exclaimed as if surprised. She looked down and noticed Rex. "FAVORITE!" She cried, pulling Rex into a tight hug. "Wah! Arm! ARM!...can't…breathe…" He wheezed as she squeezed him. Breach let go and stepped aside. Rex caught a glimpse of her room and walked past her to get a better look. Inside there were shelves of broken dolls on every wall. In fact, they covered up most of the four walls! The walls' color was dull just like the room that he had been sleeping in. She had a bed on the back wall and a dresser to the left of the room and chest of drawers to the right. Each of those surfaces was covered with bright red cloth. Even her bed's covers were red. Van Kliess stood at the door as Rex took in the whole room. "Come on, Rex, let's go." Van Kliess told him, beckoning the boy to come. Rex did as he was told and followed the man to the room he was taking him to, which was two doors from Breach's room. Van Kliess unlocked the door, and Rex walked inside. It was the only room he had seen so far that looked brand new. The walls were painted a bright orange color and the furniture was arranged just like Breach's except that this bed was a little bit bigger and brand new, and the chest of drawers and dresser were made of darker wood. The bed's covers were bright blue and there was a TV over the chest of drawers with a game console connected to it.

Rex looked around the room in awe. He had always wanted a room like this. "Do you like it?" Van Kliess chucked, patting Rex's shoulder. The boy looked up to him and nodded. "Good, because it's all yours!" Van Kliess continued, handing him the key. "Awesome!" The boy cried, running up to the bed, turning around and flopping down on it. It was super comfy, too! It so beat that stupid bunk bed that he used to sleep on in Hong Kong…where he lived with his friends…

Rex's smile disappeared and he frowned. Van Kliess noticed and sat beside the boy, who was still lying on the bed. "What's wrong, little one?" He asked, placing a hand on Rex's head. Rex's eyebrows knit. "What about my friends in Hong Kong? Didn't I ever go to check on them?" Rex asked as he sat back up.  
Van Kliess seemed to pause a little. "Unfortunately…you did. And when you came back, you were heart-broken." Van Kliess told him. Rex's eyes widened in confusion. "Why? What did I tell you?"  
"I remember you saying something about them hating you. About how they hated you for leaving them to Quarry. They did not understand what had happened. They did not want to listen…I'm sorry, little one." Van Kliess put a hand on Rex's shoulder as tears began to fill the boy's eyes. "After that, you came back with Breach, and never went back there again." The man continued. A tear rolled down Rex's cheek and, to Van Kliess's surprise, he turned and crushed his face into the man's side. "I-I didn't mean…he…he made me…" Rex sobbed, shaking.

"I know…I know…" Van Kliess purred, finally wrapping an arm awkwardly around Rex and using his other hand to stoke his hair. "I know how Quarry hurt you. I can imagine how much it must have hurt to be betrayed by your friends after all you've done to help them…"  
"h-how did you know?" Rex sniffed, his voice was muffled.  
"Why, of course, you told me yourself." Van Kliess answered. In fact, however, Quarry was the one who had told him.

Back when Breach had messed up and told him about the molecular destabilizer instead of letting Van Kliess do it, she had brought him back to Abysus for Van Kliess to deal with him after Rex had defeated him first. At the time, since the weapon was destroyed, he decided to take whatever information he knew about Rex. Of course, the big rock EVO wasn't willing to talk, so he had to break him and put him back together as both a punishment for betraying him and so he would talk. The man had apparently been sending spies to watch the boy even before he had moved out of his hide-out.

"I know what will cheer you up, Rex." Rex looked up to him, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Let me show you my favourite place in this castle." Van Kliess continued. Van Kliess stood and took Rex's hand. Rex let him pull him to his feet and take him back to the main hall. There, they took the right of the stairs and walked out to the garden. Van Kliess had ordered Breach to get rid of all the stone EVOs there and now, the garden was empty.

Rex looked around in confusion. The grass was a very dull grey and the trees were bear and looked they had died long ago. "This is your favourite place in the castle? But its…" He paused.  
"It's dead now, I know. I just haven't had the time to take care of it for a long time. Let's fix that." Van Kliess said. He raised his arms and Rex gasped. The garden had suddenly started to grow! The trees' bark returned to a healthy brown color and leaves began to grow. The grass became greener and flowers popped up among them. "Wow…" Rex gasped in awe. The garden was now the most beautiful thing Rex had ever seen! He ran forward, turning in place to take in the whole view. "You…you can control nature?!" He turned back to Van Kliess. Van Kliess chucked. "I suppose so." He answered.

Rex stared at him for a while. He never had any grown-up to comfort him or smile at him kindly or take care of him when he needed it. Well, at least he couldn't remember having one. He smiled to himself. Maybe that was finally going to change? Maybe this time, he was really safe? If Van Kliess was telling the truth, then he now had a real home, where there was someone who really cared…  
Rex and Van Kliess spent the rest of the day touring the rest of the castle. The building was huge! True, it was crumpled and needed a lot of work, but it was kind of nice. To Rex, it felt like it could become his home with time.

Soon, a horn (different from the one that signals danger) blew and it was time for dinner. Rex let Van Kliess take him to the mess hall again. He was surprised to see so many EVOs inside, already taking their seats. Food was already ready on the tables and as they walked to their own table at the far back of the room, the EVOs bowed to their master. Van Kliess only nodded to the EVOs and kept walking until they reached it.

Van Kliess sat down on the biggest chair at the table. Breach sat to his left and Scalamander sat beside her. Biowolf was about to sit on the chair to Van Kliess`s right, but his master raised a hand for him to stop and gestured Rex to sit there instead. Biowolf growled under his breath and pushed past Rex, his arm bumping into the boy. Rex looked up and noticed the wolf EVO glare down at him. _Yeesh…What`s up with him? _Rex thought, his eyes not leaving the servant's eyes as he passed. Rex sat down next to Van Kliess, returning the older man's smile. Rex smelled something good and looked down at the rectangular table before them. On it there were many delicious looking foods, such as roasted wild turkey, salads, fried potatoes, corn-cobs, etc.

Rex took a turkey leg and bit down on it. He chewed a little and swallowed, and a grin quickly spread on his face. _This is SO GOOD! _Rex thought. _Definitely better than the restaurant in china!_  
Van Kliess chuckled. "Didn't I tell you?" Rex nodded and dug in, trying his best not to look too sloppy at the same time. By the time dinner time was over, Rex could have sworn he gained like a million pounds! Of course, he was probably exaggerating…

Rex decided to go back out to the garden to just laze about there while he digested his food. He sat down and leaned back against the tree closest to the entrance and closed his eyes. It was so quiet and nice outside, and he felt so peaceful. He thought about Abysus and Van Kliess and the other main pack members. Sure, Breach seemed a little odd, Scalamander was disgusting, and Biowolf looked like he didn't really like him, but Van Kliess seemed so kind. He seemed that he truly cared, unlike Quarry. He thought about what Van Kliess had told him about his friends and frowned. Sure the guy seemed nice, but it would be stupid to trust him from the first three days in this place. He felt a little bit embarrassed about the way he cried in front of Van Kiess and clung to him like that. The man was sure to think he was nothing but a frightened little kid now!

Rex sighed. He opened his eyes and looked up to the sky. What he saw shocked him. Around him, it was as bright as day, but when he saw the sky, he noticed that there was no sun at all. In fact, the sky was dark and full of stars. Was that the Milky Way he saw up there? _Damn it! Ate too much for my own good…_He thought. Rex just sighed and got up, tearing his eyes away from the sky and going back inside. He decided to go and lay down in his room. Besides, there wasn't really much to do right now.

Rex finally reached his new room and plopped down on the bed. He snuggled up under the covers and closed his eyes. Soon nodding off to sleep…

**Two hours later…**

"Rex? Reeeex…" Rex could feel someone shaking him. He sluggishly opened his eyes and looked up to see Van Kliess. The man chucked. "Silly boy, you shouldn't be asleep now, or you won't be able to sleep at night!" Rex closed his eyes. "Mmmm…five more minutes…." He groaned. The bed was just so soft and warm, he never, ever wanted to leave.  
"Now, now, get up, Rex. The day's still young, and so are you! No sleeping in the middle of the day like an old man!" Van Kliess ripped the covers away from the drowsy boy. Rex just curled up into a ball and refused to move. "Fine, have it your way. I just thought you'd enjoy a little fresh air outside the castle is all…" Van Kliess said, getting up and walking over to the door. Rex opened his eyes wide. He hadn't gone outside in two whole days! "WAIT!" He cried, getting out of bed and running over to the man already out in the hall.

Van Kliess just chucked as the boy ran to catch up to him. Breach was beside him, and so was Biowolf. Rex tried his best to keep himself from looking up at the metal wolf servant. He could just feel him stare daggers at the back of his head. "Alright, Breach, you can open the portal now." Van Kliess said. Breach raised one of her bigger arms and a portal opened. Each of the Pack members stepped out. Rex hesitantly stuck a hand out of the portal, feeling the barrier between the two locations like water against his skin, and waved it a little. Van Kliess smiled at him from the other side. He offered Rex a hand and the boy took it. Van Kliess pulled Rex through…

**Meanwhile…**

Holiday checked her screens again for any biometrics signal, but as usual, there was nothing. She had programmed for an alarm to sound if it were to ever pop up, but she still checked the screens to make sure. Caesar sat beside her, working on a different computer. He was looking for Van Kliess over the internet again, and had moved into Holiday's lab ever since Rex had first gone missing two days ago. Caesar jumped as the radar's alarm rang. "SIX! I got a signal!" Holiday screamed into her communicator. She called over one of her many assistants and told him to watch the radar and keep in contact with her on any updates. Caesar got up and followed her out of the lab. They both ran to the garage. Six was waiting for them there, and they decided to take Caesar's ship instead of Six's jet since it fit more people in it, and it was quieter in flight.

Six ordered Providence troops near the coordinates of the signal's origin to stand by in case they were ever needed for back-up. The location was in Toronto inside Marine Land. "What on earth is he doing there?" Holiday wondered out loud. Six was thinking the same thing, and so was Caesar. "There is absolutely nothing that I could possibly think of that Van Kliess would want from a place like that…" Caesar added as he flew ship. Six remained silent. It didn't matter anyway. Their sole objective was to get Rex and go back to Providence. He was almost sure that the boy wouldn't come quietly, and prepared to take him by force…

Rex looked around him in awe. "Wow this place is so COOL!" He cried out, full of joy. Van Kliess chuckled, ruffling the boy's hair. "Glad you didn't stay in bed after all aren't you? Go ahead and have fun, but stay close. It'll be hard to find you if you get lost, Rex." He said. They had stepped out of the portal in a corner behind the bathrooms so no one would see them enter. Rex ran towards one of the closer rides. There were some EVOs among the crowd of people around them, so no one really cared when they looked their way. Van Kliess stopped Breach and Biowolf before they went ahead to where Rex was going. "Breach, keep a portal next to him at all times. Biowolf, you stay by his side, and never leave him alone, understand? There's no doubt that Providence has tracked Rex's biometrics signal and will be here any time now." He said, his face back to a serious expression.  
"With all due respect, master, why have we come here if we know that Providence will come for him?" Biowolf asked.  
"Patience, Biowolf. We'll see the fruits of our labour soon enough…" Van Kliess replied as he walked over to the ride Rex was at. Biowolf and Breach exchanged a look for a few seconds, then followed their master without another word.

Rex had so much fun going on all the rides in the oversized amusement park. He also loved to watch the different sea creatures that the place had to show off. Breach agreed to go on the rollercoaster with them after a lot of persuasion, and screamed the whole way down. At one point she got so scared that she portalled herself out. When Rex looked back after she did, he was scared that she might have actually fallen off! Until she appeared behind him the minute they got back out of the rollercoaster. Van Kliess snickered as the boy jumped when she appeared behind him and said "looking for me?" Rex blushed as she hugged him from behind and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She giggled as he shrugged her off and distanced himself from her.

In between rides, Van Kliess managed to tell Breach and Biowolf of his little plan. He gave them clear orders. When Providence was near, Breach would excuse herself to the washroom while Van Kliess and Biowolf remained with Rex. Van Kliess knew that they were going to try to take the kid back by force, so he was going to use that to make them look more like the bad guys. Rex would fear them, and in turn, Van Kliess and Biowolf would protect him, earning them the status of the 'good guys' from Rex.

They were walking along the path to the dear pens. As Rex and Biowolf walked in front of them, Van Kliess stayed behind them with Breach and ordered her to check through one of her portals for any sign of a Providence ship or truck near the area. She quickly opened several portals the size of peep holes, which peered out to the amusement park's front and back gates, the walls from all sides, and the sky above. She spotted Caesar's ship in the distance and told Van Kliess of it.

"His brother's ship…It'll be here any minute…" She said. Van Kliess smiled evilly. "Wonderful. You should excuse yourself. Our plan is about to start…" He told her. "I need to go to the washroom. I'll catch up to you later…" She said, making sure the little boy heard. Rex turned to see her walk over to the women's washroom. Van Kliess caught up to him and placed his arm around Rex's shoulders as they walked.

It took a few minutes, but Caesar finally managed to get to the amusement park and landed the ship in the grassy parking lot nearby. They all got out of the ship and ran over to the gates. The security guards quickly let them in when they realised that they were Providence, and they slipped inside. Six, Holiday, and Caesar stuck close together. Caesar held a small device tracking Rex's biometrics signal. They were close. Six and Holiday followed Caesar until Six suddenly grabbed the collar of his shirt from behind and yanked him back behind one of the smaller buildings within the amusement park. "What?" Caesar hissed, looking at Six, annoyed by the older man. Six and Holiday kept staring at something around the corner from them. Caesar looked to see what they were staring at and gasped to see Rex petting a small dear in one of the pens along with Van Kliess and Biowolf. What especially ticked him off was that Van Kliess had his arm around his little brother's shoulders and Rex wasn't doing anything about it, as if it were normal!

"That third rate– !" Caesar was cut off as Holiday and Six covered his mouth before he could give their position away. Luckily, Van Kliess was too far off to have noticed. Six narrowed his eyes behind the sunglasses. "He's expecting us…" He said. He was right. To him it was obvious from the way that Van Kliess and Biowolf kept looking around them, as if they knew that something was going to pop up and try to snatch the child from them. Even Six was angry at how Rex and Van Kliess kept smiling to each other every time the boy looked up to the man…as if he was his parent or something. Holiday could imagine smoke coming from his and Caesar's ears as they glared at Van Kliess. She couldn't really blame them…after all, she felt the same way.

"So what are we supposed to do now?" She asked.  
"Breach doesn't seem to be around, but she should be close. I don't really think Van Kliess would stay anywhere without her, knowing that she would be the only one capable of pulling them out of here if things get ugly. Either way, we're going to need back-up…" Six put a hand up to his earpiece, his other hand still over Caesar's mouth, and called for back-up. He ordered the Providence troops to stay hidden at all times and not give themselves away or let the crowd panic. They were to come out only if Van Kliess tried to get away or make a scene. He ordered them to look out for and knock out Breach so that they couldn't portal out.

It took the two squads of Providence troops five minutes to get into the amusement park and silently surround the two Pack members and Rex without being noticed. The second squad continued to search for Breach at the same time, keeping themselves hidden. **"Agent Six, sir, we have them surrounded. Whenever you're ready…"** A Providence trooper told Six over his communicator. "Roger that. Do not make you're move until I tell you to. Make sure you stay hidden until I do." He replied.  
Six let go of Caesar's mouth. "Rex hasn't met you yet after he lost his memory again, so you have a better chance at getting him to cooperate than we do. Do you have anything with you to prove you're his brother?" Six asked him. Caesar nodded. He pulled out a device and showed it to Six. "I can use this to project pictures into the air. I have pictures of us when we were still living with mammy and pappy in it." He replied. Six nodded and told him to go and get their attention. If Rex believed him, great! But if things would start to get complicated, he would have snuck behind Van Kliess and Biowolf with Holiday and they would and snag Rex.

Holiday wished Caesar luck as he walked out from around the corner, making himself visible. "Rex!" He yelled. The boy was surprised to hear someone call his name and turned around. He gasped! Who was this guy? And why did he look so much…like him? The corner of Van Kliess's mouth turned up in a wicked smirk, making a chill run down Caesar's spine. He now had the terrible feeling that the man had planned this somehow. "Rex, you shouldn't trust Van Kliess…" He continued. "Whatever he might have told you to gain his trust, He's lying!"

Rex looked up to Van Kliess in confusion. Who was this man? What was he talking about? "Quit trying to trick the boy, Caesar! You're the one who seeks to hurt him, remember?" Caesar turned on his machine, and a picture of him, Rex, and their parents popped up over it. "Look, Rex! I'm your brother! Van Kliess is trying to trick you –!"  
"Is working for Providence so important that you'd sell your own bother to them?!" Van Kliess yelled over the noise of the crowd, cutting Caesar off. Rex's eyes grew wide in shock, and he stepped back behind Van Kliess. The older man smiled. He wasn't expecting Caesar to hold evidence to prove he was the good guy. No matter, Rex seemed to believe him after what he just said anyway. "LIAR!" Caesar screamed. "I would never hurt him! You're the one who turned him into the way he is now! You're the one that tried to kidnap him afterwards!"  
"You won't fool him, Caesar! And I won't let you take him back to wretched Providence! Biowolf!" Biowolf lunged for Caesar, and Six gave the order to protect the scientist and shoot for Biowolf and Van Kliess.

Caesar didn't need anyone's help, and quickly pulled out his hyper-electromagnet and used it against Biowolf before the EVO could swipe at his head. Biowolf flew back and landed with a thump on his back before Van Kliess and Rex. Rex screamed as Six grabbed him from behind and ran. Van Kliess lengthened his arm to grab him back, but Holiday shot two bullets into the metal of his hand.

"AARGH! You little –" Van Kliess cried. He noticed Six getting away, and quickly ordered Biowolf to go after him. Leaping from the ground, Biowolf ran after the green ninja as he quickly turned a corner. Six suddenly stopped as Breach popped out of a portal in front of him. Rex was kicking and screaming in his arms, and even bit down on the arm around his chest. Gritting his teeth, Six ignored the pain and tried to focus on the two EVOs in front of him and behind him. "You know, your master isn't all that strong outside Abysus. Are you sure he'll be okay on his own?" Six said stoically. Biowolf growled, and Six knew that he knew he was right. However, Biowolf remained there, not moving from behind Six. Six quickly turned around and jumped, landing a roundhouse kick that connected with Biowolf's muzzle and knocked him to the ground.

Breach quickly opened a portal, and her fist lashed out from it. Six quickly ducked and ran forward. He knew better than to let her punch him and make him loosen his hold on the squirming little kid. Just as she opened another portal, it closed without anything popping out. Looking back to where Breach was standing, he noticed that she was on the ground, and Caesar was holding his Hyper-Electromagnet. Before Six could stop him, Biowolf jumped up and ran to attack Caesar, effectively knocking him to the ground. He raised a claw to strike the scientist's face…

"STOP!" Rex screamed. His eyes glowed blue and he saw flashbacks of him and Caesar at abuela's house and of his mango smoothies and his betrayals and apologies and even the time with him while Rex was four. But as quickly as those memories came, they died and he forgot them. He slumped and quit struggling. His head spun and pounded as Six jumped up and kicked the metal wolf before he could harm Caesar. Neither of them noticed Breach disappear into a portal and open another one, using it to kick and punch Six. Six fell, and his grip on Rex loosened enough for the boy to weakly wriggle free. Rex tripped as he tried to stand and run, too weak and tired. Before he could collapse to the ground, Breach opened up a portal to his room in the castle, and he crashed onto the bed. Rex could barely keep his eyes open, and slipped into unconsciousness.

**15 minutes later…**

Rex groaned as he opened his heavy eyelids. "Oh, thank goodness you're awake!" He heard van Kliess say as the man put a hand on his head. Rex still felt dizzy and decided to keep his eyes shut for a little longer. Rex only noticed tears running down his cheeks after he felt a soft hand wipe them away. "Shhh…there, there little one…you're safe now. We're back home…" Van Kliess told him. Feeling the dizziness subside a little, Rex opened his eyes and looked up at the man. "Why…?" Rex asked. Van Kliess was confused. "Is he really my brother? Does he really work for Providence?" Rex continued, not really caring if he looked like a baby at this point.

Van Kliess took a deep breath. He looked down at the boy sadly. "Unfortunately, yes. Last month, he found you while we were outside. He tricked you into going into Providence with him, telling you that it had changed since the month that you left Hong Kong. When you did go with him, he convinced you to try and cure the EVOs of the world with them once he realized that you could. It took you about two weeks to realize that the EVOs you couldn't cure were…dealt with, and when you tried to escape, he wiped your memory for the first time. We managed to finally break you out of there, and you stayed another month here, but they had come to take you again, and wiped your memory for the second time…"

Van Kliess couldn't help but feel tremendously excited inside as Rex squeezed his eyes shut and sobbed "I HATE him! I hate THEM! I HATE Providence…!" He cried. Van Kliess stroked the child's hair with his non-metal hand. "I know, Rex…I know…" He said.

* * *

**Why is it that the genrex fanfics on this site is dying and the fanfics of Young Justice are updating like crazy? Seriously its like there are different stories by different people updating every other hour! Dx not fair! I love you, GenRex and i will never forget you ever! (but that doesn't mean i'll not watch or read about other cartoons). I just wish that people would make more fanfics of it, because to me, its like reading more episodes XD that and i enjoy people's creativity and funniness in some of the fics**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Whew! Finally updated! I couldn't stop thinking about how Caesar, Rex, and Rylander managed to get separated like that in the first place, so i decided to write about that. I'm getting a lot of work to do in collage, so i'm sorry if updates are sometimes getting late. I really hope you enjoy this chapter, even though it is only a little bit shorter than others.**

**Don't forget to review! I absolutely love them, and we're getting closer to 100 reviews! So excited!**

* * *

Caesar struggled harder against Biowolf's hold as Six fell, loosening his hold on Rex. "REX! Please! You must listen!" He cried, trying to get his brother's attention. Rex didn't even seem to notice. He just wriggled out from Six's arms and tried to stand. He failed to keep himself up as he tried to shakily take a step forward and ended up falling instead. Caesar's eyes widened as he passed through a portal that had opened in the ground. "NO!" Caesar cried.

There was clapping coming from behind Biowolf, and Van Kliess walked into view. "Oh, Caesar, thank you so much for your cooperation!" He said mockingly. "usted RATA! Give him back!" **(you RAT!) **Caesar screamed, struggling with all his might. Van Kliess just laughed. "Don't worry, you'll see him again, just be a little patient." He continued to mock. Caesar was finally able to get one hand free and tried to stretch and reach the hyper-electromagnet that was on the ground not too far beside him. Van Kliess quickly stomped down on the device, snapping it in half. "Grrr! I'll find you. No matter where you go, no matter where you're hiding, I WILL find you. And when I do –!"  
"I won't need to hide from you for too long, Caesar. I just want to make sure that Rex stays on my side first. But don't worry, like I said, you'll live another day to see Rex again. But when you do, he won't be the precious little brother you once had. I promise you."

Van Kliess kicked Caesar's head so hard that he knocked the scientist unconscious. Six began to stir and Van Kliess turned back to him. Six put a hand up to his aching head as he glared at Van Kliess and the two other pack members standing at his sides. His eyes widened behind his glasses as he noticed the unconscious scientist lying at their feet. What was worse, he couldn't see Rex anywhere. "Where's the kid, Van Kliess?" Six asked, struggling to keep his voice stoic. Van Kliess just smirked. "Oh, he's just fine. Right now, I must go. Don't worry, we'll see you soon enough…" He said as he and the other two stepped back into a newly made portal.

The portal closed, and Six shakily got up. His limbs felt as heavy as stone. He dragged his feet to where Caesar was and felt the scientist's neck for a pulse. Finding one, he sighed. Six heard a groan behind him and looked back. There were several Providence agents sprawled all over the ground. The groan came again and Six watched Holiday get up off the floor, a hand on her head, and another carrying a gun. Gasping, she looked around. She opened her mouth to speak, but Six interrupted. "He's gone…" He simply said. Holiday fell back down to her knees, covering her face in defeat.

**Back at Providence base…**

_Caesar opened his eyes. He was in Abysus, but it looked different. The forests where the same, but they seemed to be less thick, and a small town could be seen in the distance. "Hermano!" Caesar flinched as something jumped onto his back. He felt a peck on his cheek and looked to see his little ten-year-old brother on his back, smiling brightly at him. "Mijo? You're alright!" Caesar exclaimed, his eyes widening. "Duh! Why? Was something supposed to happen to me?" Rex asked, giggling. "Why do you have to walk so fast? Can't you ever wait up for your bro?" He continued. Caesar felt confused. He looked in front of him at the castle and noticed that it looked less old and crumpled. Caesar stayed there and stared at it a bit._

_"you know, if you stand here all day, mommy and pappy are gonna scold you again for being late for work." Rex said, giggling as if remembering a time where that actually happened before. "Plus, Van would be angry. He'd be like- bla bla bla, late, bla bla bla amateur, bla bla bla I'm smarter than you!" Rex deepened his voice in a failed attempt to sound like the other scientist and giggled. Caesar couldn't help but chuckle. __**Could it be that it was all just a dream? The whole nanite event just some dream?**__ Caesar thought. He definitely hoped so. If it was a dream, he never wanted to wake up. Caesar walked along the path towards the castle entrance with Rex still on his back._

_Caesar walked in and quickly walked along the halls to his lab where he usually worked with Van Kliess and his parents. Caesar let Rex slide down his back and they both entered the lab. Just as they came through the door, he could feel Van Kliess's stare is if he were trying to burn a hole through his head, and Violetta and Rafael Salazar, raised their eyebrows at him. Caesar smirked and uttered an apology. He sat down at a table with his work sprawled all over it. Rex sat beside him, a paper and pencil, and a box of crayons before him, and he began to draw._

_After about half an hour of working silently, Caesar noticed his father walk over to Rex to look at what he was drawing. Rafael ruffled his younger son's hair and whispered a few complements on the drawing in his ear. Rex smiled and went back to drawing as Rafael moved and stopped behind Caesar. "So? How are things going?" Caesar heard his father whisper in his ear. "Good! I just need to connect these wires and I'd be all done!" He replied, not looking up from his work. Rafael leaned in closer and whispered in his ear in a lower voice. "Caesar…everything's ready. We'll make a distraction for you while you go and set up the deactivation and destruction of the nanites…" Caesar froze._

**_…what?!_**_ Caesar wanted to scream. He wanted to tell his father that it was an extremely bad idea. That if he did what he was told now, Rafael and Violeta, his and Rex's parents, would get killed, and Rex would lose his memory. That if he did what he was told, all living things in the world would have an equal possibility that they would turn into monsters and threaten the lives of people around them. Instead of doing any of that, however, he only nodded. It was maddening! Caesar could no longer control his body! He could only hopelessly watch as he got up and walked past his father. He picked Rex up and carried him over to the door. As he walked out, he could hear his parents start their little distraction. "Hermano? Where are we going?" Rex asked him, unsure of what was going on. Caesar desperately looked at his brother, silently begging him to stop him from doing what he knew what he was about to do. Caesar screamed at himself inwardly as he smiled and nodded, telling his brother that they were going someplace far away from here after he just did something first._

_"But we were just on a break only half an hour ago." Rex said confused. __**I know! Stop me Rex! Or at least run for it! PLEASE!**__ Caesar thought desperately as he got closer and closer to the room where they kept the large tank of nanites whose programming was still not complete. Caesar pushed through the door and walked up to the control board of the large tank before them. He took a device out of his left pocket, balancing Rex on his other arm, and typed in a code on it. Immediately, the tank began to power down and the swirl of what looked like fog inside it began to slow. The glow of the 'fog' began to weaken, and soon, it looked like it was beginning to turn to dust and fall to the ground of the tank. __**NO! STOP! VAN KLIESS IS GOING TO COME ANY SECOND!**__ Caesar inwardly screamed. Right on cue, he heard the door creak open and he turned. "WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?!" Van Kliess yelled, running up to him. He pushed Caesar aside and he fell with Rex still in his arms. "WAIT! Don't –!" Caesar screamed, reaching out to the small device that Van Kliess was now feverishly pressing buttons on, trying to make it stop._

_The loud sound of groaning metal could be heard as the nanites seemed to work again and their glow intensified even more than it had originally been. the ones on the floor seemed to float up again and swirl faster than before. Suddenly, an alarm blared in the building, lights flashed from yellow to red, and Zag-RS's Voice rang in the halls. "Warning! Nanites malfunctioning! Nanites malfunctioning! Please exit the building and stay calm…" The machine's voice said. Rex whimpered, scared and confused of what was going on. He buried his face into Caesar's neck as the scientist got up off the floor. Rafael and Violetta burst into the room and they both pushed Van Kliess aside. They too began pressing buttons on the smallish device._

_Caesar put Rex down and took a step towards the three as Rex clung to his white jacket. "Mommy, pappy, I tried to stop him, but –! "  
"YOU! Why would you try and sabotage the project that we all worked so hard for?!" Van Kliess said, grabbing the collar of his jacket. Rex screamed and kicked Van Kliess's leg, trying to make him let go of his brother. Van Kliess just sent a cold glare at the boy, making him shy away. "Unhand my son!" Violetta yelled, yanking Van Kliess's hand away. "Now isn't the time! Caesar, mi hijo, take Rex and go! Don't look back, just go! We'll stay and try to fix this before –!" She was cut off as screws shot out from the metal tank and nanites began to spill from a new opening at high pressure. "GO!" Caesar picked Rex up and ran out of the room. Van Kliess stayed behind. Caesar ran back into the lab that he was working in to get something important. It was his hyper-electromagnet and a few files containing some information about the nanites, and other material that he might need in the future. He stuffed them all in a bag, and Rylander came over to him. "Caesar? What's going on? Did you succeed in shutting it down? Everything's ready. I have the Omega-1 nanite, and I've sent the other ones to be scattered…"  
"Rylander! You need to get out of here! Van Kliess! He –!" Caesar was cut short as something blew up in the distance and the ground shook. Rylander stumbled back. "MOMMY AND PAPPY!" Rex screamed. Rubble fell, and Caesar gasped as he looked up to find a piece of the ceiling falling towards them. Without thinking, Rex slammed his hand down on a keyboard beside them, and a Robot designed to lift heavy objects raced in just in time to raise its arms and block the large chunk from squishing them both._

_"Oh my God! Caesar, Rex, are you alright?!" Rylander asked, stepping towards the two. Caesar shook his head, snapping out of his shock. "That's not important right now, we need to leave!" Caesar yelled, balancing Rex and one arm and grabbing Rylander's wrist in another. They both raced out of the lab and passed the one that their parents and Van Kliess were in. "Caesar, wait! We can't just leave them!" Rex cried._

_Caesar wanted to turn back, he really did. He paused for a minute, considering it. Rylander stopped after running a few steps past them. "Attention all staff, Nanites are now unstable, please evacuate the building...Self-destruction in two minutes..." Zag-RS announced. "Come on! You can't do anything for them now, they'll get out on their own!" Rylander screamed, taking Caesar's wrist and yanking him into a sprint. Caesar could feel tears begin to form in his eyes. __**I couldn't stop myself...this is all my fault...**__He thought as he kept a firm hold of Rex. Rex struggled to break free, but to no avail._

_They finally made it outside. Rylander quickly urged him to get to his ship and take Rex with him. He was going to take the van with many of their research notes, tech, and other scientific things. Even if they were trying to destroy the nanite project to keep the world safe from the Consortium, and others who would use it badly, they needed to keep their research and at least some of their equipment just in case. Caesar nodded and quickly ran to his ship/pod lab. He climbed onto its elevator, but as he was going up, Rex managed to slip out of his grasp and jumped down from it. "REX!" Caesar screamed as the elevator reached the door. He was about to press a button to go back down, but Rex placed a hand on one of the ship's legs and blue lines snaked out from his hand. The door, which was open outwards suddenly slammed Caesar in, knocking him back onto the floor of the ship. "REX! WAIT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Caesar screamed, getting back up and banging on the door, typing on the keypad on it to try and open the door. "I'm sorry, Caesar! I'll be back! I need to get mommy and pappy!" He heard Rex call to him. "NO! Rex, it's too dangerous!" Caesar yelled, desperate to open the door now. The door did not open, and he could only hopelessly watch as Rex ran back into the building._

_Caesar ran to the windows, looking out and hoping that Rylander was still there to stop him, but the truck was already gone! The ground suddenly began to shake violently and he looked back out the door's window. Caesar's eyes widened as a fire broke out of the building and rays of unnatural light began to spill from inside. Caesar's heart sank as he watched the scene for the second time of his life, and knew that the place was going to blow up with Rex, and his parents still inside. __**No, wait! Rex stays alive! I CAN'T LEAVE HIM! **__ Although he didn't want to move, his body wasn't really listening to him, and he ran to the driver's seat and turned on the engines. Just as the ship kicked off, he felt an incredibly powerful jolt and the Ship flew at frightening speeds that were never meant to be reached. The world became a blur around him..._

Caesar sat up, gasping for air. He was soaked with sweat and there were tears running down his face. Caesar looked around him, confused. Six had a hand on his shoulder and Holiday was dabbing a wet cloth on his forehead. He was on Rex's table...  
"REX!" Caesar exclaimed. "Easy there, Caesar. They're gone...we failed to get him back...I'm sorry." Six said. His stoic face gave way to a little bit of concern. Caesar could feel himself shaking, and by the looks of it, Holiday noticed, and so did Six. Holiday leaned in and hugged Caesar. He flinched at the sudden hug, but wrapped his arms around her too, biting his lip and trying to prevent the rest of the tears from flowing. Caesar could feel Six rub circles on his back awkwardly, attempting to sooth. Caesar couldn't help but smile at the thought. It was like the former mercenary saw the action in a movie and was trying it for the first time, but hey, he was trying.

He pushed himself away from Holiday and Six stopped rubbing his back. His smile disappeared as he remembered his missing little brother, and the frown returned. He got up and went back to the computer, not even saying a word, and went back to searching for Van Kliess. He needed to find him, no matter what. He felt his heart rip to pieces as he remembered the way Rex stepped back behind Van Kliess, cowering away from him_, his older brother_.

**The next day…**

Rex sluggishly opened his heavy eyelids. Yesterday he had slept half the day after they had returned from the amusement park. He was almost captured by those f #$ing Providence creeps and he felt oh so tired and weak that time. He guessed that it was because he hadn't fully recovered from the blood-loss and weakness of the two days before.

Rex swung his legs of the bed and got up, walking out the door to the hallway. Before he got out, he had managed to take a look at the clock at his bedside table and noticed that it was 8:00 in the morning. Rex made his way out of the hall, down the stairs, and into the ball room. Van Kliess wasn't there this time. He decided to check the garden that he had shown him yesterday. This time, he found him, standing beside a rose bush. Rex watched at the door as the man used his powers to make one of the roses grow up to his face and breathed in the aroma coming from it.

"Van?" Rex squeaked. Had he always sounded so small? Van Kliess looked over to him, as if surprised. No one had called him that since he was working in the nanite project…in fact no one except Rex ever did, even then. As if noticing this, Rex cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh…you don't mind if I call you that do you?" He asked, looking away. He looked back up and saw that the man was kindly smiling back at him. "No, of course not…Is there anything you need little one?" He asked. Rex shook his head. "No…just wanted to come say hello…" Rex said. The man nodded and returned to what he was doing. Rex just stood there awkwardly for a while, unsure what to say to keep the conversation going. He didn't really have a reason to find him in the first place. He was just simply the person he was most comfortable dealing with for now.

Rex came closer and stood next to the man as he turned back to his roses and minded his own business. Rex shuffled his feet a little and looked back up at him. "Um…Van?" The man turned again and looked down at him, giving him an encouraging smile to continue. "If Providence came last time to take me away, how come they never tried again after Breach kicked them out?" He asked, quite confused. Van Kliess chucked. "You're smart, little one. Look up there. Have you ever noticed the sky?"

Rex's eyes widened. He thought that he had been seeing things when he last looked up there, so he didn't dare look again, but he had a feeling that Van knew what he had seen. "You mean you see it too?" He asked, surprised. Van Kliess chucked once more. "Of course I can! You see, Rex, this is a pocket dimension. Breach took the castle into this dimension so that Providence couldn't attack us again. As long as we stay here, no one can get to us." He repied, ruffling the boy's hair. Rex smiled. He was so relieved at the thought of being safe from those lunatics! But something he remembered quickly made that smile disappear.

Rex looked down at his feet, not quite comfortable about asking the question. "What about…my brother…?" Rex asked finally. He waited for a few seconds, but when there was no answer, he looked up at the man. Did he really see it? Rex thought he caught a glimpse of anger on the king's face, but it quickly disappeared as quickly as he had looked up. Instead, there was a look of pity on the man's face. "Oh, my dear little one. That man is evil. He doesn't wish the best for you. He only seeks to use you. He may pretend to care, but he does not. We gave him more than enough chances, and in each one he tried to double-cross us all. That was the reason he erased your memory again in the first place wasn't it?" He said, placing a hand on Rex's little shoulder. Rex wanted to believe him, but at the same time, he wanted him to be lying. He always wanted to look for his family. At first, after all those months that he had been living in Hong Kong, he had given up hoping for someone to pop out of nowhere and claim to be a family member, but now that he found one, he was told that he was evil. Why did he even trust this man after only three days of knowing him? Well…he did save him from Providence twice. And he also seemed to truly care a lot about him…

Rex just shook his head in defeat. He wanted to see his 'brother' to at least hear his side of the story, but even if he did, he didn't want to be snatched away by Providence. Besides, what if he truly turned out to be evil? Rex was broken out of his thoughts as the man before him suddenly pulled him into a hug. "I know it must hurt, little one. And I know it's confusing and scary, but you'll be alright. I'll help you make the right decisions, and we'll all make sure that Providence never lay their hands on you again…" Van said, rubbing the boy's back. Rex hugged him back. If his brother was supposed to be the evil one, then he was glad that at least he had one grown up who actually cared…or he hoped anyway. The older man pushed himself away and looked down at the little Hispanic boy in the eyes. "Oh, that reminds me! I have a very special surprise for you, Rex."

Van Kliess took his wrist and led him to his lab. Rex silently allowed him to lead him there, wondering what the surprise was. Van opened the lab doors and walked over to a desk to the far corner of the room. The desk was littered with so many gadgets of different shapes and sizes, but Van ignored them all as he opened a drawer at the far end of the desk and pulled out a bracelet. He put it around Rex's wrist and its lock snapped. For a moment, Rex's eyes widened, and he panicked, trying to yank it or slip it off his wrist, but to no avail. Van chuckled. "no need to worry, child! It's just an ability enhancer! And plus, if you want it off so badly, you just need to tell it to let go of your wrist!"

Rex paused for a little bit, unsure of what to do. "Go on…" Van Kliess beckoned. Rex looked back down at the bracelet. "Let go of my wrist…" He ordered. When it did not respond, Van Kless told him to say "bracelet" at the end to show it that he was talking to it, not someone else. Rex repeated his order, doing as the king told him, and this time it worked. The bracelet unlocked itself and fell to the ground with a clank. "See? You can take it off whenever you like! Nothing to be afraid of…" Van Kliess told him, smiling kindly. Rex still felt unsure…he didn't like Providence because he heard that they experimented on EVOs, so the last thing he wanted was for the inventor/king to be experimenting on him, even if he knew that he was EVO too. Rex picked the bracelet back up and inspected it in his hands. "What does it do?" He asked, curious.

Van Kliess smiled. "Like I told you, it's supposed to enhance your powers. It was made specifically for you, and no one can get it off you except for me and you. Why don't you try it?" Van Kliess answered. Rex reluctantly thought it over. "How?" He asked, deciding to go with it. The man didn't mean him any harm, did he? "Well, I wanted this bracelet to give you the ability to control machines without you having to touch them! Think of it as a sort of wireless connection, but only from nanites to other machines. Try it on that mechanical arm over there…" He pointed at a mechanical arm way at the other side of the large room. Rex locked his eyes onto the arm and concentrated hard. **_Move…_**He told it. To his shock the arm lifted! Rex stared at it for a few seconds then burst into mindless childish laughter. Van was looking at him with a surprised expression. "heeheehee…That scared me so bad…" Rex said, trying his best to keep his giggling under control, but failing to supress his snickering.

Rex looked back up at the machine. **Wave to me…**He ordered, wanting to make sure that he hadn't just imagined it. When it worked, he giggled again. Van Kliess smiled, letting out a small breath. Why did he feel like the boy's laugh was a little bit…cute? Van shook his head. No, he was just tired after working on that bracelet the whole night, that's all…

"Van?" Van Kliess looked at the boy's face. "What are you thinking about?" Rex asked, curious. Van Kliess just brought his fake smile back up and ruffled the boy's hair again. "Nothing of importance...How about we go and test your new toy outside?" He asked. Rex seemed to shrink back a little. "But…They'll come looking for me again…" Rex mumbled. He didn't want to see them again so soon, and he was far from ready to meet _him_ again. Van shook his head. "There's no need to worry, little one. If they ever show up again, we'll be ready for them. We cannot just live in fear and lock ourselves inside the castle forever." Van Kliess replied. "Besides…don't you want to get back at them for what they have done to you?"

Rex blinked up at him in confusion. "How?"  
"Simple. With your newly boosted powers you are now able to use or hack into any machine or computer without even having to touch it as long as it is in the same room as you. We need to get back at them for killing and kidnapping so many of us. With your help, we may even get them to lay off our backs for a while. If we hack into their security systems and shut down the whole base, including the vehicles and weapons they have, they would be busy bringing everything back online, and we'd be free to roam the streets and gather the supplies we need such as food, water, and technology with no interruption…"

Rex's eyes widened. "You mean steel? B-but you're a _king_! Aren't kings supposed to be rich?" Rex asked. "Unfortunately, no, Rex. I am only king because the EVOs that live in this castle need someone to lead them. I do not have the money to buy all the supplies we need to survive. It's not like many EVOs can get a job, either, since most people do not accept us."  
"But…in Marine Land, there were EVOs just like us there! No one looked at them funny, and no one seemed to treat them differently…And plus, why didn't Providence go after them, too? Why just us? Why just me? I thought you said that they hated EVOs…"  
Van Kliess sighed. He knelt down and placed a hand on Rex's head. "It's not like they can cure them without you, Rex. At that time, you were their top priority. And even so, if they were to continue killing EVOs after they know that there is a way to get them back to normal now, the place would have turned into a blood bath, and why kill them all if you could at least cure some of them?"

Rex looked away. He looked back up at Van and nodded. "Okay. Let kick their butts…" He finally said. Van Kliess stood and turned around, heading to call the others to join. With his back turned to Rex, his smile took a twisted turn. _Oh this is getting good…_


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's note: Sorry, you guys, really short chapter this time, but hey, its a new update at least! I got this new idea for a YJ fanfic in my head and I just CAN'T STOP thinking about it. I wanna write it so badly, but at the same time I need to finish this one first. Oh well, we'll see what I can do...**

**YES! 10 more reviews to get to 100! Review, people, REVIEW! xD**

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**Chapter 11…**

Van Kliess and Rex told the other main Pack members of the trip to Providence. Turns out that Van had already planned everything from getting into the base, doing what they had to do, to getting out and back to the castle safely. Rex didn't like that very much. He felt a little regret at the thought that the man managed to convince him to help. He felt like the man just _knew _that he would go along with him. If there was anything that Rex hated more, it was being used. Quarry had used him before, often forcing him to rob some people, or hurt others.

But at the same time, he couldn't bring himself to say "no, I change my mind". Maybe it was because of the different methods that two bosses used? Quarry used to make him do things by force. He made threats that Rex knew he would never hesitate in actually following through. Van, on the other hand, _asked _him to do it. **_Nicely_**_. _And when Rex hinted that he didn't really want to, he _convinced _him. He never raised a hand other than to ruffle his hair or place a hand on his shoulder, or to calm him down as he cried. Quarry used to **_hurt_** him. To beat him again and again and again until he would beg him to stop if he didn't obey right away.

Or maybe it was just that he didn't really want to disappoint the only grown-up he had ever seen that actually _cared_ about him? That, and that Providence deserved to pay for hurting all those poor EVOs that were unable to get away. They were the reason that people got killed. They were also the reason that his friends hated him. If they hadn't chased them down that alleyway, he would have had more time to consider his options…to maybe tell his friends of what happened so that they would at least understand…

But let's face it…Even if he hadn't been saved by Breach, he might have betrayed them anyway. He didn't want to kill. Quarry did that, and he loathed to be anything like that evil man. Rex felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up to find Van Kliess smiling kindly down at him. "What is it, Rex? You've hardly touched your food…" Van asked, tilting his head to the side. It was only then did Rex remember that he was at their table with a plate of eggs and buttered toast in front of him. He looked around at the other main pack members. They all seemed to be looking at him too. "Um…its nothing…just thinking that's all…" Rex said, using a fork to pick some of his eggs up and placing it in his mouth. No, he was going to go with the plan. Providence needed to be stopped, even if their plans only stopped them temporarily…

Rex shoveled the food into his mouth quickly, seeing that the rest already finished theirs. They were going to take a break for an hour longer to digest some of their food before starting their attack on Providence. Rex was a big part of the plan, and he knew it. He got up, thanking Van for the food, then thanking the EVO chefs that made it when he passed their table to go to the nearest bathroom. He washed up and left to the garden, sitting against the nearest tree and closing his eyes. He had decided since yesterday that this place was probably his favorite and most beautiful among the other areas of the castle. Here, he felt at peace.

Rex thought of the plan, reminding himself of everything that he was supposed to do. Breach was going to portal him into the central control room of Providence base, also known as "The Hive". He would free all the EVOs from their cages and the petting zoo, then destroy the room completely from the inside. That way, most of Providence's equipment would stop working. They would have absolutely no power for weeks if not months. The freed EVOs would distract the troops while, Biowolf, Scalamander, and Van would gather and destroy as many of the smaller hand-held weapons as they could find.

According to Van Kliess, it was a simple mission, and Rex wasn't even going to do the hard part, just the most important one. Rex sighed and got up. He decided to just sit down and play some video games or something in his room for the rest of that hour before getting up and meeting with Van and the other three in the ballroom…

**45 minutes later…**

Rex walked into the ballroom. He was fifteen minutes early, but he didn't really have anything much to do, and he felt bored from playing his video games. He expected to find no one there, but was surprised to find Van sitting in his chair, looking bored out of his mind. When he caught sight of Rex, he seemed to lighten up and sat up strait. "Ah, Rex! Come in." he said, smiling brightly at the little boy. Rex nodded and stood before the man's chair. "Oh, don't just stand there like a stranger, come sit here!" Van patted the arm of his large stone chair. Rex just stood there for a moment, mentally trying to come up with a way to get up there without being too awkward. He gasped when Van just picked him up from his under arms and placed him onto the arm of his chair, letting Rex put his feet on the seat beside his legs. "so what brings you here? You as bored as I am, little one?" Van asked, leaning against the other arm of the chair. Rex was still a little shocked and paused for a little. He never expected the king to be strong enough to lift him up like that. After all, he didn't seem that strong. "u-uh…yeah." Rex finally replied, remembering that Van asked him a question.

Van Kliess just smiled. They both fell into an uncomfortable silence. Rex wanted to say something…anything to break it, but he just didn't know what to say. He stared down, and Van Kliess followed his gaze to his golden arm lying in his own lap. "Ah, this ugly thing? It's scary-looking isn't it?" Van asked, raising his arm. He was surprised when Rex tapped it with a finger and said "no…I think it looks cool!"

Van blinked, and a smile formed on his face. But this smile was different. It wasn't forced like the others were. It was a real smile. The child thought his arm was "cool". He heard EVOs whisper many things about his arm, even if he pretended to not have noticed. They called it things like _ugly, disgusting, freaky, weird, dangerous_…but no. The kid called it "cool"!

Van watched as the child knocked his knuckles onto it and heard them bang against the golden metal. "Is this really gold?" Rex asked. "hmm…I don't know…never really bothered to check." Van Kliess replied, chuckling. Rex grabbed his golden hand and inspected it with the interest of a scientist. Van inwardly scowled. He looked so much like his older brother when he did that. He kept the smile on his face anyway, unable to wipe it off for too long as Rex seemed to radiate with curiosity. "Are these really as pointy as they look?" Rex asked, as he reached with his other hand to touch the tip of a spike on his finger. "uh, Rex don't –" Van began.

"OW!" too late. Rex dropped his hand away, taking his now pricked finger and inspecting it. Blood began to seep from his finger and Van Kliess quickly grabbed it and took a look. "Oh, little one, I tried to warn you. Are you alright?" Van Kliess fussed like a mother caring for a child. Van Kliess thanked God that he had disinfected those spikes only minutes ago…wait…Why did he even care? Rex wasn't a son, nor a little brother, nor a child at all! Why did he care whether he got himself hurt or not? _He's just a pawn, Kliess, just a pawn like all the rest…_ Van reminded himself. Still, he got up and pulled Rex down, taking him to his lab. He knelt down to a counter cupboard and grabbed a first-aid kit, pulled out a Band-Aid and some disinfectant, and began cleaning Rex's little cut. After he was done, he let go of Rex's hand and the kid looked at his finger and back up at the man.

"Uh…sorry. Thanks" He said, smiling up at the man. Van froze as the boy hugged him around the waist, and he blushed a little. Van couldn't help but smile again and pat the boy's back.

"Master?"

Biowolf stood at the door, looking at the two. Rex released his grip on Van, but kept his arms around him as he looked up and noticed the servant there. He felt himself involuntarily shrink back as Biowolf seemed to growl, glaring at the boy. "Biowolf…" Van Kliess's tone became dangerously low as he glared at the metal wolf. Biowolf bowed. "My apologies sir…Breach and Scalamander and I were wondering where you two were." Van Kliess nodded, took Rex's hand, and pushed his way past him. Rex looked back to Biowolf to find that he was_ still_ glaring at him. _Seriously, what's his problem?_

Rex followed Van back to the ballroom and they stood before Breach and Scalamander. Rex looked to what they were staring and noticed that he was still holding Van's hand. He slipped his hand out of Van's and looked away. _Great, now I look like a baby…_ he thought. Babies were weak. Rex hated feeling weak.

"Alright. Are we ready?" Van asked, looking at each of them. Biowolf came to stand at Van's other side, and nodded. "We are all ready, Master."  
"Good. Breach, open the portals."  
Breach opened two portals. One obviousely lead to the Hive, while the other lead to a corner in one of Providences hallways. Van Kliess ruffled Rex's hair and smiled kindly down at him. "We'll meet again in an hour or so, little one. Do your best, and if anything bad happens, use your bracelet to call for help, alright?" Van said. Rex nodded, a look of determination on his face. He watched Van slip through the portal with Scalamander close behind. Biowolf turned to glare at Rex again before he too left through the portal. Breach let the portal close, then gestured for Rex to follow her into the other one.

Rex landed in the Hive and looked around. He was standing in the middle of a room with two computer screens before him. The place indeed looked almost like the inside of a bee hive, but not quite. Rex yelped and jumped back as a bolt of electricity almost zapped his feet. He quickly raised his hands and closed his eyes. **_Stop zapping me! Shut down the field of electricity!_** The room did as it was asked and quit zapping their surroundings. Rex smiled, proud of his accomplishments.

He looked behind him, and Breach was smiling at him. Rex shuddered a little. It looked more like an evil smile than anything. Rex looked in front of him and noticed the two screens on a small counter before him. He walked up to it and looked at it. He could see what Van called "the Petting Zoo" and watched as many Providence troops began shooting at the unstable EVOs running around as they tried to run out of the jungle of a room they were being kept in. Similarly, he could see a second set of rooms where there seemed to be equally unstable, but humanoid EVOs doing the same as they tried to escape what looked like a prison area. Rex couldn't help but notice that in this room, the troops were fighting with their fists rather than guns. _Probably just to make sure they don't lose any test subjects…_ He convinced himself.

He almost jumped as Breach wrapped three of her arms around him and stroked his hair with one of her smaller ones. "Oh, Favourite, you're so destructive today…I like that. We're going to have so much fun, playing with Providence in the future." She whispered in his ear. Rex gulped. Breach just giggled and pulled away.

Just then, something caught Rex's eyes that made his heart skip a beat. He went closer to the screen, grabbing the monitor as if it might run away if he didn't. There, in one of the hallways, the man with spikey black hair and tan skin was running, carrying a small machine, much like the one Rex saw him use in the amusement park when he first saw him. Caesar Salazar went across one box of video footage on the screen to another. Rex turned to Breach. "Breach! You need to take me to him!" He pointed to the screen.

Breach looked at the screen and her face turned into an expression of shock. "Can't. Van Kliess won't like that…"  
"I won't finish the damn job unless you promise to do it!" Rex stomped his foot. Breach crossed all four of her arms, glaring at him. "Fine! If you do, I promise I'll let you make me wear the suit you got me and play tea party with you, okay?" Rex yelled impatiently.

That delighted, yet evil, smile crept up on her face and she eagerly nodded. Kneeling down to whisper in his ear, she said "Deal, but VK knows nothing about this little agreement…"  
"What agreement?" Rex said.

As she stood strait again, Rex spun around and closed his eyes. Just as he closed his eyes, it was like he could sense every machine, every circuit, and every wire in the room as they connected to the sever electricity-producing mechanisms and the computer with the two screens before him. Normally, he would only be able to do that with the one or two objects that he was in physical contact with, not the while room! Rex smiled to himself. He never felt so excited, so important, so powerful for once! It was intoxicating!

He quickly focussed on sabotaging the room, ordering the circuits and wires to rip themselves to shreds. He ordered the computer to erase all other computers' data in the building and ordered the machines responsible for generating the electricity in the room to channel that electricity to the rest of the building, frying the circuits in every room and making the light bulbs explode. The lights suddenly went out, signalling that the job was done and Rex blinked as breach opened a portal, letting light seep through. She pulled out something and the portal closed.

Rex blinked as Breach suddenly turned on the flashlight she had just apparently stole and shone it in Rex's eyes. "Ow! Watch it! Are you going to keep your side of the deal or not?" Rex hissed, annoyed by the blinding light. He could make out Breach's nod and she opened a portal. The area past the portal was equally dark and quiet as Rex stepped through. Breach shone the light inside and they observed their surroundings. "oof!" Breach grunted. The flashlight bounced away from her hand as she fell to the floor, and Rex felt his blood run cold. Someone picked up the flash light and shone it on him. Rex froze like a deer caught in the headlights. "…Hermanito?" Someone gasped. That someone rushed over to him and crushed him into his chest. Rex stayed frozen, unable to move. He trembled in place as whoever it was holding the flashlight shone it to the ceiling, and Rex could finally make out his face.

Rex watched, still frozen, as wide brown eyes looked him up and down. The man was the same one that had interrupted their trip to the amusement park yesterday. The man looked genuinely concerned. He cupped Rex's cheek with one hand as he place the other, still pointing the flashlight up, on Rex's little shoulder. He looked exactly like what he expected to be an older version of him in the mirror. The man seemed to notice Rex's trembling. "Hermanito, what's wrong? Did they do something to you?!" The man whisper-shouted as he stroked Rex's hair.

Rex shook his head and pushed himself away from the man's grip. "No! they would never hurt me! Wh-Who are you?" Rex asked, though he already knew the answer. Caesar rose from his crouching position and stepped closer to the boy. Rex quickly stepped back, not wanting the man to come near. Caesar noticed this and stopped. "Rex, it's me, Caesar, your brother! Rex, please, why do you shy away? I would never hurt you, hermanito."  
"Quit calling me your baby brother! You don't care about me! And I'm not a baby! Why would you do this to me? Why would you erase my memory if you care? Tell me!" Rex almost screamed. The man froze, and In the dim light, Rex could see that his eyes were starting to water. "Mijo, do you really think that I would hurt you? Do you really believe what that vile man says?" Caesar's voice seemed to crack. The man was at the verge of tears!

Rex flinched, feeling guilty and confused as to why his 'brother' was so hurt if he was supposed to be so 'evil'. The pain in his eyes seemed so real. Rex couldn't imagine anyone being so good at acting that they could cry if they weren't real actors. He definitely couldn't do that. "Rex, you need to listen. Van Kliess was the one who erased your memory! Do you know what year it is? You're 16 years old, Rex! Van Kliess made you like this. He de-aged you and erased your memory!" Caesar's voice rose at the last few sentences.

Rex froze. No that couldn't be…It was impossible to do that wasn't it? He could remember his life in Hong Kong as if it only happened three days ago, which to him, it had. But if Caesar, or even Van, was right, then that meant that it could have been so much longer…  
Rex shook his head, too stubborn to accept what he said. "NO! you're lying! Van would never do something like that! Van cares! He'd never hurt me!"

" Just look at the date of any newspaper, Rex! I'd never lie to you about something so important! Van Kliess always wanted to use you! And now you're following him like a lost puppy – !"  
"WELL MAYBE I AM A LOST PUPPY!" Rex screamed. Caesar flinched.  
" If you care about me so much, then why didn't you come save me?! Why didn't you take me away from Quarry and the streets of Hong Kong?! Where were you when I needed you most?! Why did Van do that instead?! Why are you working for the same people that chased me and my friends on the streets and tried to kill us and experiment on us?! WHERE WERE YOU?!" Rex continued.

By then, both of them had tears running down their cheeks like waterfalls. "…I'm so sorry, mijo…" Caesar gasped. "I…I thought you were dead…I thought I lost you and our parents in the accident…I didn't think you survived…" Caesar sobbed. Rex just stood there as tears silently fell. _What accident? What could have happened that was so bad that I'd lose my memory more than just once?_

Rex wanted to run up to the man and comfort him. To believe everything he said and give him a chance just because he was supposed to be family. But at the same time, he wanted Breach to just wake up and portal him away, back to the man that had given him a home and a safe place to sleep, away from Quarry and the rest of his gang.

Rex found himself deeply confused, frozen, unable to make another move to comfort or run away from the stranger that was supposed to be his brother. Caesar seemed to calm himself down and wipe his tears away with the back of his hand. He came closer as Rex kept stepping back, until the younger boy had his back against the wall. Caesar knelt down and grabbed him again. Rex gasped as the older man pulled him into a hug once again and whispered. "Please, Rex…just give me a chance…please…"

They stayed like that for several seconds, without saying a word. Rex couldn't stop shaking. He was scared out of his mind right now, no matter how hard he wanted to hide it. Rex considered calling for help, but they were in Providence, and he knew that as soon as he called out, Providence troops would probably come to help his so-called brother, not him. Rex remembered what Van had said about calling him using the bracelet, but he couldn't. Not with his brother holding him so tightly that he could barely move a muscle.

Suddenly, a portal opened from under Rex's feet, and he fell right through, slipping from between his brother's arms. "REX!" Caesar called. The portal closed before he could do anything, though, and when he looked back, Breach was gone.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's note: Ugh finally! Sorry for the late update. Writer's block again, but I finally pushed through.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 12…**

Rex landed on his back on his own bed back in the castle. Sitting up, he wrapped his arms around himself, trying to stop shaking. That was terribly close. He could have been captured! He never wanted to get anywhere near that man again…

But something kept nagging at him in the back of his mind. **_Do you know what year it is?_** The castle seemed to be very quiet outside his open door. He got up and decided to walk along the halls. **_Do you know what year it is?_** _His_ voice echoed in his mind again, demanding attention. **_Do you know what year it is?_** The truth was, he hadn't looked at anything related to the date since he had first woken up at Providence. _His_ evidence seemed to be in the current date. But Rex didn't want to believe it. No, he _refused_ to believe it. Van was the only one that ever cared. That ever treated him well. Sure his friends had, too, but it felt sooo good being taken care of by an adult. When Van was around, he couldn't help but wish that he could call him Daddy, or Pops or Pappy, or Dad, like people did in the movies and shows that he watched on the stolen dish and TV in Hong Kong.

But what if he turned out to be double-crossing him like _he _said he was? What if he turned out to be using him just like Quarry was, for his unique powers? What if these four days were nothing but a lie? A big fat bluff to get him on his side? And if it was, then what then? Even if _he_ was right, he couldn't just say 'okay' and trot over to Providence. But he couldn't just forgive Van for erasing his memory and 'making him younger' and stay…right? But then again, if he were to ask Van strait to his face 'What's the date and year today?', he'd suspect him and never let him get away. This is a pocket dimension after all…

Rex's head began to hurt as the 'what if's and doubt echoed in his skull. He couldn't get _his _voice to stop asking **_Do you know what year it is?_** It was too much to bear. He was going to have to wait until he got outside the castle again. Then the first thing he would do is run over to a newspaper stand and take a peek at the date. Only then would he truly know if _he _was right, and only then would he be able to decide what to do.

Rex got up and walked through the halls. He couldn't help but think that he didn't want to leave this place. It was warm, secure, safe…If he were to leave Van, then he'd be out there, on his own, alone and scared in the dark streets of who-knows-where…Why was life so cruel? Why couldn't he just live a normal life with parents and siblings who'd love him and care for him every day and night?

So far, Van was the closest thing he had to something like that, and it felt so painful, the thought of having to rip himself away from him. He knew he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up like that. He knew that he should have kept his guard up. He knew that whenever he got attached to something, it would be taken away. Yet he just never learned…

Rex broke away from his thoughts and found himself in the ballroom, staring at the big chair where Van usually sat. He sighed and climbed up onto the chair, then lay down, putting his feet up on one of the arms and resting his head on the other. He decided to wait here. He didn't know why, but he would wait for Van to come. Then, when the time came, he would find out what the date was. He prayed that it was the same year that he had left Hong Kong.

Hours passed and Rex fought to say awake, but lost. A portal opened In the middle of the ballroom, and Van walked out along with the other three EVOs. "Get the food to the kitchen. Be sure to take the weapons to one of the empty rooms, and lock it…" Van stopped and noticed the sleeping boy in his chair. Van walked up to him to take a better look. Yup, he was fast asleep, his soft snores barely audible. Van couldn't help but genuinely smile. There was no denying that the sight was adorable.

Biowolf noticed his master walk over to the boy and put down his side of the crate that he and Scalamander were carrying. "Master, would you like me to take the runt to his room?" Biowolf asked as he came to stand beside his master.  
"He is a child, Biowolf, not a runt. And no. I'll carry him to his room myself…" Van said, annoyed, as he bent down and slipped his arms under Rex's back and knees. Biowolf watched as his master lifted the boy up and walked away.

His eyes narrowed in anger. His master was getting too attached to the boy. Instead of treating him like a pawn, he beginning to treat the little runt like his own son or something! And only four days have passed since he first joined the Pack! This was unacceptable, and It wasn't going to last long if Biowolf had any say in it…

Van carefully set Rex down the bed of the boy's room. He then pulled the covers from under him and covered him with them, pulling it up to his chin, careful not to wake him. He smiled down at the sleeping form, watching him breath in and out a few times, then turned around and walked over to the door.

"Van…?"

Van turned around when he heard the incredibly small squeak. Rex didn't seem to have moved, and for a moment, he thought he imagined it, but the boy spoke again just when he was about to turn back around. "Van..?" He said, a little bit louder this time.  
"Yes, little one?"  
"…I…don't know…"

Van paused for a little while. "What?" He finally asked, wondering if the boy was just talking in his sleep. "…you…never mind…" Rex answered, barely a whisper.  
"Do you need anything, little one?" Van asked, moving to stand at the bed again. "…no…" Rex said, turning his back on him before Van could see his face. Van wondered if he really heard the boy's voice crack. He leaned over him to try and get a decent look at his face, and Rex tried to bury his face in the pillow. "Rex, please look at me when I'm talking to you." Van said, grabbing Rex's shoulder and turning him to get a better look at his face. Although Rex was trying to blink them away, Van could see his eyes watering. "Little one, what's wrong?" Van asked, sitting down beside the boy.

_I'm just so confused and scared and I can't remember anything that can help me, and I don't want to lose you, and I don't want to be lonely again…_Rex thought, rubbing his eyes. "j-just homesick…" He lied. Van stroked his hair. "Oh, little one. You still miss them, don't you?"

Rex nodded, not bothering to stop a tear from running down his cheek. "little one, you need to understand that sometimes, friendships come and go. Some stay strong, but others don't…I'm sorry there was no such luck with you and your friends in Hong Kong."

"… but you wouldn't leave me, too, would you…?" Rex asked, voice cracking again.

It took Van a while to finally come up with a reply, as shocked as he was. He smiled kindly to the child and shook his head. "Of course not, little one. Why would I ever leave you? I already told you before, The Pack never leaves any man or child behind…"  
"Promise?"  
"Promise."

Van watched as Rex smiled back. His eyes drooped and murmured a "goodnight" before he fell asleep once again. Van brought the covers back up to the child's chin before getting up and leaving the room, closing the door behind him. "Goodnight, little Rex…" The man said, unable to wipe the smile from his face as he walked away.

**The next day…**

Rex woke up and sluggishly got out of bed. Walking along the hall just outside his room, he went to the bathroom and washed his face, brushed his teeth, then walked out again. He wasn't looking where he was going, and bumped into someone. "Ugh. Watch it you – !"

Rex looking up and noticed Breach standing over him. _Oh wonderful…_ he thought sarcastically. He watched as Breach grinned, looking as evil as ever. She opened a portal under his feet, and he found himself bouncing off her bed and falling to the floor of her room. "OW…" Rex moaned, rubbing his head. Something landed on his face, and he lifted it off and held it at arm's length. It was a suit and tie on a wooden clothes hanger. He looked to see Breach standing over him. _EW! Thank God she's wearing shorts!_ Rex couldn't help but blush.

"Aw, do I have to _now?"_ he asked out loud.  
Breach grinned again and nodded. "You promised…"  
"Can't we play tea party later?"  
"…Sure" She said, after thinking a little.  
"Really?"  
"Yes…but you still need to wear the suit."  
"What?! That wasn't part of the deal!"  
"Well you said, and I quote, 'fine! I'll wear that suit you got me and play tea party with you okay?' You never said 'I'll wear the suit only while we're playing tea party'…"

Before Rex could open his mouth to object, she continued. "If you don't keep your promise and wear it right now, I'll tell VK of our little deal."  
"Yeah? Well if he finds out, I'm not the only one who's gonna get in trouble."  
"Who cares? I'll tell anyway."  
Rex's eyes widened. He didn't want Van to know. If he did, that would ruin his chances in finding out and getting away if he had to. Rex frowned up at her.

"F #$ you." He said, taking the suit and heading behind a changing screen in the corner of the room. A few minutes later, he walked out, struggling with the bow tie that he had no idea how to tie. Breach was mad at him for saying such a vile word to her, but tried helping him with it anyway, wanting to admire how cute he would look with it on. After a few tries herself, even she started to grumble.

Giving up, Breach got up and grabbed his wrist, yanking him out the door. Rex tried to get her to let go, but she was having none of that. _Oh, come on! I don't want anyone to see me in this monkey suit!_ He kept on pulling, trying to resist as Breach half-dragged him to the ballroom.

Breach burst through the large doors, and all activity within the room ceased as everyone in it turned to stare at the now grumpy four-armed girl and little Hispanic boy storming into the room. Van was in the middle of talking to two or three EVOs about some preparations in the castle. Apparently, there have been troubles with the electricity in Van's lab and he was asking the mechanics what they needed to fix it and how long it would take so that he could continue his work as soon as possible. Unfortunately, they needed to steal some new equipment and the rest of the items needed to fix the problem.

Van looked at the two, annoyed from the fact that they had just interrupted his conversation with the head EVO mechanic…until he saw Rex. Van couldn't help but crack a smile. Noticing his gaze, Rex's tan cheeks became a soft hue of pink as he looked away.

Rex could hear the whispered "aws" and "he's so cute"-s from the four or five EVOs standing in the room. "Yes, Breach?" He heard Van say.  
"We can't tie this!" She whined, showing Van the bowtie in her hand.

Van just sighed. He turned to the other EVOs again. "Alright. I'll get you the equipment you need later on. But for now, you may leave us…" He watched as the EVOs left, then got down from his high stone chair and walked over to the two.

"Let me guess. You tricked the poor boy into having a tea party with you, Breach?"  
Van chuckled as Rex's cheeks became even pinker. He ruffled the boy's hair and took the bowtie from Breach. Van knelt down and lifted the color of Rex's white shirt and wound the tie around his neck from under it, then proceeded to tie it into a bow. Van stood up to admire his work. "Breach, could you get me the camera?"

Breach opened a portal, reached in to open a drawer, and pulled out a small hand-held camcorder. She handed it to Van and Rex's face became full out red as he snapped a picture of the boy. Rex wished he hadn't taken off his bracelet before he had gone to the bathroom. If he hadn't done that, then he probably would have been able to delete the picture without having to touch the camcorder. Rex pouted, and Van pinched his cheek, making the boy pout further and whine as he pushed his hand away. This just made Van chuckle again. Teasing the boy was fun.

Satisfied, Breach smiled, taking Rex's hand and yanking him away. Back to her room, no doubt. Van sighed. He was going to have to save the kid sometime soon. Knowing Breach, she would probably hog him tea party as much as she could. Especially since he was her 'favorite' and all…

**At Providence…**

Caesar roamed the halls of Providence like a zombie. His normally curious and care-free eyes were hollow and devoid of emotion. They were just plain empty. No one spoke to him as he passed several troopers by. By then everyone knew that he would either ignore them, or wouldn't even notice that they were there.

The reason he was even away from a computer or not outside looking for Rex was because Holiday and Six had kicked him out of her lab and locked down his, preventing him from working anymore. They had told him to rest, or at least take a break, but he was in the mood for neither, so they decided to force him to. Six walked alongside him, making sure he wouldn't take his ship to leave or go and try to hack into his lab's lock to get in and continue searching.

It was obvious that Caesar was just following him wherever he led him. His eyes were locked in front of him, but he wasn't really seeing anything. It bothered Six. Sure, he didn't really think the scientist cared enough for his younger brother before. But now, he felt guilty for accusing him as such, even though he never really did out loud.

Nevertheless, even if he pitied the scientist, he still felt annoyed from him too. The boy was freaking lost, not _dead!_ They still had a chance in finding him! Sure it was probably crushing to be so close yet unable to get him back twice, but there was still hope. _Man I'm starting to sound like one of those cheesy soup operas that Rex used to watch or something…_

Six stopped when he reached the door to Caesar's room. When he stopped, however, Caesar bumped right into him. Six tried his best to stay patient. "You should go inside and rest…" The agent stoically said, turning to Caesar. Caesar just grunted, bobbing his head once to indicate that he heard…but he didn't move at all. Six lifted an eyebrow. "…Caesar?"  
Caesar just grunted and bobbed his head again. He was clearly _not_ listening. "…Do you know how to twirl like a ballerina and do the splits?" Six said, just to make sure he wasn't wrong. Caesar did it again.

_Alright, that's it…_Six grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and

**-SLAP-**

Caesar stayed with his head facing the side for a little while, then slowly turned to look at Six. Caesar's hand rose to cup the cheek that Six had stricken. Clearly he was shocked, no longer wearing the expression of emptiness that he had on two seconds ago.

Six's eyebrows were twitching in annoyance as he let go of the other man's collar and straitened his tie. "Yes, he's out there somewhere, with Van Kliess, Providence's number one enemy, thinking that he's the good guy, while we're the bad guys, and yes we came close, but lost him twice. All of that is true, but again, from the looks of it, he's being taken care of well, and Van Kliess isn't hurting him. He's lost and confused, but not _dead._ So either _suck it up, or crawl in a hole and get out of the way, because I have absolutely no use or tolerance for a zombie."_

Six was surprised that he was even able to maintain that stoic voice of his. He was tired of him, Holiday, and Caesar blaming themselves. It was getting in the way with capturing the boy, and he was losing his patience.

Caesar blinked. He stayed silent for a few more seconds, and Six was debating whether to slap him again, but then he spoke. "…Your right…" He whispered. Six let out a breath he didn't really realize he was holding. "Good. Now get in there and get some sleep. Like I said, I have no use for a zombie…" And with that, he walking past the scientist, heading back to Holiday's lab. He didn't need to turn back as he heard the doors to Caesar's room swish open and closed and the younger man went to do as he was told.

**…..**

Rex bit down a groan of boredom. Breach poured him another cup of tea, and kept talking, but Rex just wasn't listening anymore. What had it been, two, three, four hours since they first started this stupid tea party? Sure at first the sandwiches and tea tasted good, but it's been a long time since Rex was full and he just wanted to get up and leave. Unfortunately, though, Breach wouldn't let him.

Rex twisted to look behind him as someone knocked on the door to Breach's room. "Come in!" Breach said, acting uncharacteristically sweat. Rex rolled his eyes.

The door opened wide and Biowolf stared down at them. "Breach, the Master wants to see the runt now." He said. Rex hummed an annoyed sound at the word "runt" and shark back a little as Biowolf stared at him and growled. "Get up…now…" Rex did as he was told and got up. It wasn't like he didn't already want to leave, so why was Biowolf acting as if he was being difficult? He probably thought that he his response meant that he wanted to stay.

Rex looked back at Breach as she pouted before he walked out the door. Before he could turn and get out, however, Biowolf grabbed the top of his suit jacket from behind and pushed him out the door. "Hey!" Rex yelled as he hit the ground. "What the f #%'s your problem!?" Rex continued as he turned, still on the floor. Biowolf only answered by grabbing the front of his suit jacket, lifting him up and pinning him against the wall opposite from Breach's door.

Biowolf jerked his head forward, making Rex flinch and turn his head away, thinking that he was going to bite his head off or something. A blow never came, and instead, Biowolf's muzzle remained beside his ear. "Listen up, runt. You better keep far away from the master. _I_ am his second in command, and _you_ are never going to take my place by becoming his favorite little baby. Not if I can help it. So you better watch your back –"

"BIOWOLF!"

Both Rex and Biowolf snapped their heads to the end of the hall. There stood an absolutely furious Van Kliess, his eyes wide in a mixture of horror and anger. Breach was beside him, and Rex guessed that she had taken a portal and told him what had happened. Biowolf seemed to think so too, as he growled at her.

"Drop. Him. Now…" Van growled at the large metal servant, voice low and threatening. Biowolf did as he was told, letting Rex fall onto his butt with a thud. Rex grimaced and ran over to Van, hiding behind him. "I'm not a baby, and I'm not a runt either, _fido!_" Rex shouted, glaring at him from behind his human (or EVO) shield.

"Rex…" Van warned.  
"You little whelp – " Biowolf growled.  
"F #& YOU!"  
"REX!" Van shouted, making the boy flinch. Rex had never heard Van shout at him like that in the four – now five – days that he had been here. And worse of all, the way he shouted his name and looked at him like that reminded him of…of Quarry…right before he was about to get a beating.

"go to your room. _now…_" He growled through his teeth, pointing to his door nearby. Rex took off, not daring to make the man any angrier. Rex slammed the door behind him. He looked around for any means of escape, but there was none. There were no windows or other doors that Rex could sneak away through. Nothing but four orange-colored walls. He was doomed. Rex didn't really get why Van was angry at him. Quarry never cared when he swore. If fact, the other man encouraged it. '_it's a tough world out there, shrimp. You gotta be tougher or the bigger fish'll eat chya alive…' _he used to say.

Van on the other hand, didn't seem to think the same, and he had just unintentionally earned himself a hard beating. Rex felt the walls close in on him and was shaking now. He could feel himself starting to breathe harder.

Rex jumped as he heard the door to his room open and close behind him, and quickly turned to look at Van. "Rex, I want to talk to you." He said, stepping closer towards the boy.

Van watched the boy as he took a step back, visibly shaking. Why was he shaking? Even when he stopped coming closer, the boy kept backing away until his back hit the bedpost and he almost flopped back onto the bed. "…I-I'm sorry…" Rex stuttered. His voice was shaking too.

Van felt something break within him. The boy seemed beyond scared. Maybe when he was a teenager, he might have been happy if the child had ever looked at him with such fear in his eyes. But now, it kind of hurt. He had never really been very close to Rex when he was still working here on the nanite project, before it went and turned so many living beings EVO. Back then, he barely even cared when the boy had gotten hurt and had to have the prototype nanites injected into him to save his life. He was a dying human experiment, and he was useful for his research. Now, however, after he had taken care of the child for five days strait, spending time with him and actually getting to know the spunky little boy, he had to admit that he no longer…saw him as just another person to use. He was starting to become more than that. Sure he was still a pawn, but…just a little bit more of an acquaintance…and turning into something more.

Van lunged for the boy, wrapping his arms around him in a genuine hug. Not a forced one like all the rest. A real hug. Van decided that he didn't like the way the boy looked so much more vulnerable right now. He noticed Rex flinch and try to wriggle himself out of his hold, but he held on tighter, and after a few seconds, Rex instead seemed to snuggle up against him, craving more of the warmth that he provided. Van kept a hold of him like that until he felt the young child's trembling subside. "…I'm sorry…" Rex said again, the words muffled against Van's chest. Van sighed, gently pushing the young child away from him, and looking into his eyes. "listen, little one. I know you were just defending yourself, but I do _not_ accept any foul language in this castle. Understood?" Rex nodded eagerly, unwilling to make the adult mad at him. "And little one…that Quarry fellow may have hurt you before, but you must know that I would never physically harm you. _Ever._"

Rex nodded his head quickly, looking down. "And, Rex…" Rex looked up again into the man's face. "You're still grounded for a week." Rex nodded again, not complaining. It was so much better than getting beaten. "You're not coming with us outside for this full week and instead will stay in the castle, helping the chefs before every breakfast, lunch, and dinner…"

Now that earned a gasp from the boy. Before he could say anything though, Van interrupted. "Ah ah ah! Want to make it two?" Rex shut his mouth to prevent himself from saying another word. He wasn't going to find out the date anytime soon because of what he'd done, but it was still better than getting beaten, or getting grounded for even longer.

Oh well. He could wait a little longer. Besides, it meant spending a little more time before he potentially had to leave the warmth and security of the adult and his castle.


	13. Chapter 13

**YEY! I hope you guys like father/son fluff 'cause, man, are you gonna get a ton of it in this chapter! I hope you enjoy it! Please review!**

**Chapter 13…**

Rex huffed as he washed some of the vegetables needed to make lunch along with two or three EVO chefs. Rex was just glad that he got one of the easier jobs in the kitchen, but there was still a heck of a lot of vegies to wash. There had to be enough to make food for every last EVO in the castle after all. Rex just wanted to finish up and leave. Van had promised that if he was good and finished early, he would put all his plans aside and spend the whole day with him. Thus, he was determined to be on his best behavior today.

Rex huffed again as he finished washing the last tomato and turned to start peeling the garlic. The EVO chefs had refused to give him a knife, saying that he was too little, and instead decided to make him peel them by hand and give them to someone else to chop off the hard ends and mash them. This was going to be a long day…

Rex didn't know how long it took him to finally finish, but if you asked him, he'd say "forever". But, when he finally did finish, they told him that he was done for the day, and he ran over to Van's lab. "Van! Van, I'm finished!" He called as he opened the door and rushed inside. Van turned his chair to face him and smiled. "Ah, Rex! Come in!" he exclaimed, beckoning the boy to come over. Rex complied and stood beside him. Turning back to the desk, Van picked up a small computer chip he was working on and planted the chip into the bracelet that he had borrowed that morning from Rex.

"what's that?" Asked Rex as Van finished adjusting the bracelet. "It's just a little modification to your bracelet, little one. Try saying 'bracelet, help'." Rex snapped the bracelet around his wrist and did as he was told. As soon as he did, a cellphone-like device began to vibrate in Van's pocket. The man pulled it out and smiled. "What did it do?" Rex asked, tilting his head in question.

Van smiled up at him. "Don't worry, little one. I just adjusted the calling option. You can still call me, but if for any reason you cannot, you just need to say it or think it, and it will send me your coordinates as well as open up a link for me to hear what's going on at your end."  
"Oh. Cool…So what do ya wanna do?" Rex asked, swaying on his heels.

Van got up and placed a hand on Rex's shoulder, steering him out of the lab. "I think it's time we started retraining you, Rex." He said. Van stopped once they reached the garden. "Alright, Rex. This will be your first training exercise. You are to take this red ball and carry it to safety all the way to the red flag that would be hidden in the garden. Every day, the flag will be hidden in a different place for you to find. At the same time, while looking for the goal, you need to avoid and dodge attacks that might come at you. I'll be the one enforcing those attacks using my abilities. This exercise is to teach you to stay alert at all times. Do not hesitate to use the help command on your bracelet if you ever run into trouble, though I doubt you will, alright?"

Rex nodded, grinning and mock saluting. Van chuckled, roughing his hair, and gave him a gentle push towards the trees after giving him the small red ball. Rex broke into a run. He was eager to please Van, and wanted to impress him. He had street smarts. He knew how to survive on his own and get himself lost. Maybe he wasn't used to dodging attacks, but that was what training was for, right? To learn.

Van smiled as Rex ran out of view behind the many trees of the mini-forest that was the castle garden. He was sure to go easy on him, after all this was his first try. The garden was big enough. Almost as big as the Petting Zoo in Providence. It would be easy for the child to get lost in there. It was a good thing that he had remembered that the day before. That was the partially the reason why he had worked on that little chip for the bracelet overnight. Van chuckled at how happy the child looked as he ran into the forest. Van had given into the fact that he was getting fond of the child's happy and lovable personality. Don't get him wrong, he was still intent on keeping the child as only a pawn, but it never hurt to be a little bit gentler with him than the rest of his pawns. Besides, he was by far the youngest, and he needed the child to be happy to have his full cooperation and trust. Yeah, that was it, he was just a pawn.

Van snapped out of his thoughts as he remembered that he still needed to watch the boy from above so he could start with the training already. Van raised his normal hand and a thick vine popped out, carrying him up over all the trees of the garden. Looking down, he could clearly see Rex among the trees. There were still trees with thicker leaves, however, and if Rex ran in between those, he would be out of his sight.

Van sat down on the vine, making himself comfortable. This might take a while. He made the vine lengthen itself, ordering it to follow the young child from above.

Rex looked around. The trees were beautiful and the view around him was soothing as always. Rex took in a deep breath, relishing the wonderful smell of greenery around him. He had never been this deep into the garden before, but he liked it. He could feel a light, slightly chilly breeze tickling his face and shifting the leaves and bushes around him.

Rex shook his head. No time to waste. He needed to stay on task and find that flag. Rex chose to go right, deciding to stay and look around the barrier of the forest to see if it was anywhere nearby. Above him, Van shook his head. The boy was heading farther away from the flag. If he wanted to find it, he needed to get closer to the middle of the forest and more to the left. The boy's tactic was good though. If he was supposed to search the whole place, going around the border just in case would be much better than going past the flag and deeper into the forest. The child was smart.

Rex pushed branches out of his way as he walked along the border of the forest until he reached the tall walls of the garden. _Well, time to go back…_Rex turned around and was about to walk back to where he had started, but was shocked to see a fat vine swinging towards him. "YIPE!" Rex ducked just in time before the vine could hit his face and knock him off his feet. He quickly got up and ran forward. If only the thing was electronic, he could have shut it down or ordered it to destroy itself or something!

_Well, can't do anything about that, just gotta keep moving!_ Rex ran away, still close to the border of the forest. He needed to get back to the starting point and keep going the opposite direction from where he came. If he didn't find it there, he would move deeper into the garden and continue his search. As he ran, a tree branch swiped at him, but he ducked and dodged that one too. Still being attacked by different vines and branches, he kept his eye out for that flag, and finally reached the left wall of the garden. He was going to have to go in deeper now.

Rex kept running deeper and deeper into the forest of the garden until he finally felt that the attacks had ceased for now. Rex stopped, placing his hands on his knees to steady himself as he panted. Judging by how long it took for him to run across the length of the garden barrier, the place was huge. Looking for the flag would take forever. _Need to look for it from above…_He thought. Rex looked up to find a thick tree with many low branches that he could start climbing from. Nodding to himself, he striated up and walked over to it. He jumped up and hung onto the lowest branch, lifting himself onto it with only a little difficulty, then continued doing that from branch to branch until he finally reached the top.

Rex gasped. From here, the view of the small forest was amazing! He looked around in awe until he saw a fat vine that sprouted out from the starting point. Rex's eyes traced the vine until he noticed Van sitting at its end. Rex smiled as he watched the adult frantically search the ground. _Pfft…if he can't see you, he can't attack you, right?_ Rex thought, trying to stay quiet. He curled in on himself, trying to make himself as small as possible to stay hidden among the leaves. Rex went back to looking for that red flag that Van had mentioned.

Scanning the area below him, Rex's eyes widened when he finally spotted the flag. He could barely see the corner of it blowing in the wind. It's pole and most of the fabric was hidden by a short tree standing in the way from where he was. It wasn't that far away, actually. It would take him just a few minutes to get there if he ran. Smiling, Rex climbed back down as quietly as he could manage. When he finally managed to reach the tiny clearing that it was in, he kept running, extending his hands to reach it. He was _so close_, but when he was just about to finally touch it…

"Hey!" Rex shouted, trying to break free as a fat vine wrapped around him, pinning his arms to his sides.  
"Oh. Sorry, little one! You lose. You should have looked before you leapt." Van said as his vine lengthened and lowered itself enough for him to stop in front of the squirming boy.  
"Aw, no fair! You never said anything about that." Rex pouted, stopping his squirming.  
Van chuckled. "Silly little one, it's a given. If this exercise was real, you would have been hurt, captured, or worse, jumping out for an enemy to catch you like that. But don't be disappointed. You did well for your first try! I actually didn't expect you to last anywhere near that long, let alone get this close!" Van said, raising the boy's chin to look him in the eyes.  
A grin broke out on the boy's face. "Really?"  
"Really!"

Suddenly, his stomach began to growl loudly, making the boy blush a little, and Van laugh. The bell began to ring signalling lunch time as soon as his stomach quieted. "Alright, let's go have some lunch, shall we?"

Van made the two vines set them both down to the ground. As soon as Rex's vine unwrapped itself from around him, he ran forward, headed for the castle. "Race ya there!" He called over his shoulder.  
"hey! Rex – " Van sighed as the boy was already out of sight. But no way was he losing to him, damn it! Van jogged after him determined to keep up with the child.

Rex and Van finally reached their table at the mess hall and stopped, both gasping to catch their breath. "Ha! I win!" Rex exclaimed, taking his usual seat.  
Van snorted. "Child, you wish. I was only going easy on you."  
"Nuh-uh! I won and you know it. Are you sure you're not just getting old? Or are you just jealous because I'm faster?" Rex answered with a sly grin.  
"First off, I am _not_ jealous, and I am definitely _not_ getting old. I mean look at me! I'm still as handsome as I was years ago."  
There was a pause before Rex burst into endless childish giggles and Van chuckled and patted him on the head. He was coming to enjoy the boy's laughter.

The rest of the day passed quite quickly, actually. After they ate, Van took Rex to his lab and they talked a lot as Van worked. Rex cracked a lot of funny jokes. Some of which Van actually thought were quite funny. After all the laughter and talking, Rex tried convincing Van Kliess to play a video game with him.

Van sighed. He had heard about puppy-dog-eyes and had seen Rex use them on his parents before in his time working here, but never had he actually seen his face while doing it since he usually had his back to Van when he did. He didn't really understand how a child's look could possibly make an adult melt and give him whatever he wanted like people said it did, but then again he had never experienced _this._

"Pleeeeeaaaaase, Van?"  
"Rex, come on now, I don't think I'd like playing such games. I've never played one before."  
"Hey, that's what I said when I first saw it, but my friends showed me and I liked it! Please, Van? I know you'll like it too, I _promise_! pleeeeeaaaase!"  
Rex's chocolate brown eyes widened even further, seeming to sparkle in the artificial light of the lab. His lip jutted out slightly, trembling, and he wound his fingers together and begged again and again.

Van brought his eyes up to stare at the ceiling, trying to avoid looking into Rex's eyes as he had that ridiculously adorab…uh, well, as he had that expression on his face. To his surprise, Rex climbed up onto his lap, grasped his face in his hands, and _made_ him look into his eyes. "please please please please pleeeeeeaaaaase? It'll be super fun! Pleeeeeeeaaaaase?"

That was it, Van couldn't take any more. He caved.

"Alright, alright. I'll try it out, but just this once."  
"YES!" Rex fist-pumped as slid to his feet. He grabbed Van's hand and yanked him out from his chair, then half-dragged him out of the lab. Finally reaching his room, Rex opened the door, walked in and took two wireless controllers from his bedside table, giving one to Van.

Sighing, Van sat down on the bed as Rex hurriedly popped a game into the consol, then plopped onto the bed next to Van. The game started, and Van read the title: Street Fighter. Rex skipped the cut-scene and chose the multiplayer option on the game, and a list of characters opened up for both of them to choose from. Rex told Van what buttons did what, and Van began to scroll through each of the characters' icons, looking at a display of each to see which one he would choose. All of the characters seemed overly muscular and non-friendly. Even the female characters where huge. "Tch…you'd think they were all EVO with all that unrealistic muscle…" Van commented. He smirked when he heard a tiny snicker in response from the child beside him.

Realizing that the child had already chosen a character, Van quickly chose one. A rather burly man with flaming red hair and an evil look to him. Rex had chosen a blond male in a red karate robe, who looked a little smaller in comparison. Naturally, after several punches and kicks, Rex's character quickly managed to defeat or "K.O" Van's character. "Ha! I win!" Rex said, grinning.  
"Hmh…well that's hardly fair. I never played video games before, obviously I wouldn't win now."  
"Oh, come on, you'll get better at it, Van. Wanna rematch?"  
"No thank you. I've had enough of this game. I don't want to play anymore. Besides, When I was a child, there were no such video games, or video games at all for that matter, thus I'll probably never win against someone with such experience like yourself."

Rex's face fell, but there was a weird glint in his eyes for just a second, and the corners of his mouth pulled up into an evil grin.

"so…you're saying that you can't beat me at this game because you're _old?"  
_Van paused for a moment. "…what…?"  
"You heard me. You said you couldn't beat me because you're old. You just said it yourself."  
"No I – "  
"Or is it just that you're giving up because and adult like you can't win against a little guy like me?"  
"I am not _giving up_ and I man certainly not _old…_"  
"you know what? You're right. You _are _too old to win. In fact, I bet you can't even win if you tried a hundred times." Rex said proudly.  
"Ohoho you are so – "

Van paused, realizing what Rex was trying to do. The child was taunting him…and it was actually _working_! Wow, the child was _smart_. Van shook his head in amusement. Well, he decided to take the bait anyway. He was going to show him 'who's boss'. "so? Are you gonna go do your old people stuff now or are we gonna have a rematch?" Rex asked, tilting his head.  
"Bring it." Van answered.

It took Van two or three tries to get the hang of playing the game, but after that he steadily started to get better during every match that he and Rex had. He even managed to win once or twice, and Rex would pout playfully for a few seconds before congratulating Van on the small victory. They continued playing until three hours had passed without them even realizing it!

A knock on the door sounded, making them both pause the game and look at the door. "Come in!" Van called. Scalamander opened the door and peered inside.  
"Master, we were wondering where you were…" He said.  
"Ah, Scalamander. Is there something the matter?" Van asked.  
"Um…no. But didn't you hear the dinner time bell, master?" The giant lizard EVO asked, confused.  
Van blinked in surprise. He exchanged looks with Rex and the child merely shrugged.  
"It's…dinner time now?" Van asked. He didn't even hear the bell ring, and from the looks of it neither did Rex. Rex giggled. "Yeah, video games tend to do that to a person. You have so much fun, you lose track of time and focus only on the game."  
"Is the food still on the table?" Van asked, turning back to Scalamander.  
"Yes, master. We haven't started eating without you."

Nodding, Van got up, and Rex turned off the consol and followed him and Scalamander out of the room. They walked over to the mess hall, and as soon as they entered, all the EVOs inside stood up from their seats and bowed to their King. Van only nodded as he led Rex and Scalamander up to their table.

Sitting down in his chair next to Van, Rex tried his best to ignore Biowolf's stare. The big bad wolf EVO was definitely jealous, and to tell the truth, Rex feared what would happen if he were to be left alone with him. They ate their meal in silence for the first few minutes, until Rex broke the silence.  
"Hah. I really liked playing Street Fighter with you, Van. We should totally do it again! And maybe we could play with Scalamander and Breach and Biowolf, too. Sure we can only play two at a time, but we could also play Super Smash Bros on the new Wii too! That one can have four playing at the same time, and I'm willing to take turns..." Rex babbled as they ate, only pausing to chew before swallowing and continuing.

Van smiled as he ate. The child truly hated silence, didn't he? Van remembered that Rex still thought that the Wii was new because of his huge gap in memory. He never really cared for video games much, but he had found out that it was out in the market for quite a while as he was first collecting the things that the boy would need or want during his stay. He paused, his arm stopping before he could place the spoonful of salad in his mouth. Van put it back down in his plate and his smile disappeared. _What if the child finds out about what happened to his memory? He would definitely hate me and probably never trust me again…_

Van couldn't help but feel something strange deep in his heart. Something extremely unpleasant. Was that fear? Sadness? Was he actually getting _attached_ to the child? _No, that's impossible. Not even a week had passed since he first came here, I can't possibly get attached to him that quickly…besides,he always got in the way of my plans when he was older. I'm supposed to hate him. He's just a pawn, like all the rest…_

Something grabbed the left sleeve of his jacket. Van looked at the owner of the hand and his eyes locked onto Rex's. "…Van? Did I say something wrong?" Rex asked, worry masking his face. Van could feel the same unpleasant feeling twist his stomach into knots, and he lost his appetite. Forcing a smile onto his face, Van Kleiss shook his head. "Not at all little one. I was just thinking of some things, that's all."

Rex didn't seem to quite believe him, but he inwardly sighed as the boy nodded anyway without asking anything else. Van excused himself, getting up and walking away. As soon as the rest of the EVOs noticed that he was up, they all stood and bowed, and Van just waved his hand for them to sit down.

"Hmh…nice move, runt." Biowolf growled, glaring at Rex.  
"Me?! What did _I _do?"  
"I don't know. Clearly he lost his apatite because of something you said."  
"Nuh-uh! He just said that it wasn't me."  
"Hmh! He just says that because you are his favorite baby boy now."  
"I am _not _a _baby_!" Rex yelled, getting up. Biowolf did the same, growling down at the small boy. Rex fought the urge to run and cower, and instead stood his ground, glaring up at the big bad EVO with all the strength he could muster.

The two continued to stare at each other before Rex finally broke his glare and turned to walk away. He needed to go after Van. Rex didn't like his sad expression. Thankfully, Biowolf only growled as he walked away, but didn't follow, and Rex ignored him. As soon as he was out the door, Rex started to jog. Van seemed to have disappeared. Checking the washroom, Rex didn't find him. Either he was in the ballroom, in his room, or the lab. Rex first jogged over to the ballroom. Not finding him there, Rex decided to check the lab. Van wasn't there either. Rex jogged up the stairs to the hall of the main pack members' bedrooms. Van's room was only two doors apart from his own. In between them stood Scalamander and Biowolf's rooms.

Knocking on the door, Rex waited for an answer, but didn't get one. "Van?"

Again, no answer.

Rex sighed. "Van?" He tried again. No answer. Giving up, Rex turned and entered his own room. He had looked everywhere he thought Van would be. The man probably didn't want to be found. Rex wondered what he could have possibly said for the man to have had such a hurt expression on his face. All he talked about was the game they could play together in the future!

No. Biowolf was probably wrong. Van couldn't have been hurt because of anything he had said. There was nothing that could possibly hurt the man among the things that he had mentioned! Rex just sighed. He would talk to him later, and apologise if he needed to. For now, he was too lazy do anything but lay tiredly in his bed. Probably due to the fact that his body wanted to digest the food he just ate. For a while, Rex just lay there, staring up at the ceiling until he fell asleep.

…..

_Rex laughed as he flew away from Providence with his Boogie Pack. He could feel the wind ruffle his hair as he passed the earth underneath him. His goggles protected his eyes from the sand that occasionally threatened to blow into them from the earth underneath him. He twirled and twirled in the air, as if showing the birds who could really fly. Rex had no idea how he had managed to get himself into a jet pack such as this, but it was a very sweet toy, even if it seemed to actually be __**stuck**__ to his skin._

_Suddenly feeling like someone was following him, he looked back. A Providence jet seemed to be on his tail, and Rex did his best to speed away, twisting and turning at impossible angles to try and slow it down. Whoever was in the jet seemed persistent, however, and merely kept pursuit. Narrowing his eyes, Rex could make out the city in the distance. The very same one that he had run to the 'first time' he ran away from Providence. It was only a matter of minutes before he would reach the high walls of the city designed to keep feral EVOs out. And when he did, he would make sure to fly in the tightest spaces possible to finally lose the damn jet._

_Finally reaching the walls, Rex flew over them and immediately headed towards two building that were built so close to each other, it would be impossible to fly between them with a jet like that. Taking the opportunity, Rex flew in between them at high speeds and laughed, sure that the jet would just have to stop. _

_No such luck._

_The Providence Jet merely flipped 90 degrees, passing in between the two buildings and gaining on him like it was a piece of cake. Growling with frustration, Rex made a sharp turn towards a few more buildings that __**he**__ could barely fit in between, even if he pulled a trick like that one._

_Rex wondered how he even managed to lose the jet pack on his back because it was suddenly gone. He landed on the ground without any effort and sprinted for the alleyway in between the buildings, taking a right, then a left, then another right and a final left. Rex ended up in a wider space between four buildings, but that was a dead end._

_Wishing he hadn't lost the jet pack, Rex turned to the sound of several footprints. __**Oh shit…**__He thought as the man in a green suit that had chased him into the city the last time approached him along with two Providence troops behind him. "Why don't you just leave me alone?" Rex demanded. He was a little shocked as to why his voice sounded so relaxed, even though he was totally panicking on the inside. There was something else though._

_His voice sounded…deeper?_

_And he felt…Taller._

_"Why don't you just stop running away?" Asked the green man stoically, adjusting his sunglasses over his eyes. __**Ugh…what kind of idiot wears sunglasses at sunset?!**__  
Rex shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets, looking nonchalant. "Because I can…" He said, like he didn't have a care in the world. The man in front of him raised an eyebrow, the rest of his facial features remaining unchanged. The man just walked forward and Rex's heat began to pound as he felt him come within arm's reach. __**Gotta get away gotta get away gotta get AWAY! **__Rex screamed in his head. He wanted to run past the man, snag one of those troops' guns and get out of this place, but it seemed like his body wouldn't listen. Instead, it let the green man grab his wrist, and walk off, yanking him behind with that tight grip of his._

_Only then did Rex realize that he didn't even have the slightest control of his body, and probably never did from the start. His boy let the green man take him over to the jet, and he got in without even the slightest of protests. On the inside, Rex was screaming. _**Oh God their going to take me to Providence…their going to hurt me…gotta get away, GOTTA GET AWAY!** Rex struggled on the inside the green man led him into the jet with little to no resistance. His own body was betraying him…

…..

Rex woke up with a start. Finally feeling his body cooperating he dashed off, out of his bed and out the door to the hall outside. Suddenly stopping he finally realized that it had all just been a dream. He was not on the run from Providence, and he was no longer as tall as he was when he was being chased. His heart refused to slow down, though, and he suddenly felt the weight of the silence around him. Judging from how quiet it was around here, it must have been night time, and all the other EVOs were probably asleep.

Rex felt cold and alone. He needed comfort. Usually after a bad dream like this, he would wake his friends, and they would comfort him. _But they're not your friends anymore, and this isn't even anywhere near Hong Kong…_he thought.

He thought of who he could possibly go to at such an hour. Breach was too loony, and he definitely didn't want to deal with her right now. Scalamander would probably slobber all over him while talking if he even gave a sh t to begin with. And Biowolf? HAH! He'd probably rip him to shreds and hide his bloody remains…

Other than that, Rex didn't know who could possibly comfort him. He didn't know the rest of the EVOs in the castle that well, so that left only one person. But would he get mad if Rex were to wake him now? What if he was mad at Rex for saying something that bothered him at dinner time?

Rex briefly considered going back to bed, but he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep anymore if there wasn't someone there to talk to him and comfort him until he fell asleep. Before he could even stop himself to consider it further, he was already at the door to Van's room, and he lightly knocked twice.

Unfortunately, there was no answer, and Rex raised his hand to knock again. But before he could knock again, there was a small grumble from inside. "…who is it…?"  
Rex froze. He honestly didn't know what to do. Van was nice, sure, but he was also a grown-up. He wasn't as old as he was. What if he thought that Rex was just being annoying and didn't appreciate him waking him up?

"…Who is it?" The groggy voice said, now a little louder. Rex stiffened a few seconds before opening the door just a slit. "Um…Van…?" Rex squeaked.

"…Rex? Is that you? Come inside." Van answered, still sounding tired.  
Rex did as he was told and opened the door a little more. A light 'click' sounded and suddenly a lamp on the bedside table to Van's right turned on. Rex squinted as his eyes adjusted to the light. Rex finally got a first look at Van's room. The room was bigger than Rex's, and expensive, but old furniture decorated the interior. His bed was twice the size of his (maybe even bigger) with curtains at its sides like those in the movies about the Middle Ages where knights of shining armor protected their kings. There were two bedside tables at each side of the bed, and a large wooden closet covering the whole wall to Rex's right and a dresser to the corner of the left wall. Like all the other rooms in the castle, this room's walls were cracked and their paint was a dull color of dirty beige.

Rex's eyes landed on Van after surveying the room. The man was dressed in a normal nightshirt and pants. His hair was messier than usual with a few strands frizzed and sticking out here and there. Van had an expression of confusion as he seemed to stare at Rex too. "I…I…uh…" Rex said, unable to look Van in the eyes. _Either he's gonna be angry that I woke him up for something so stupid, or he's going to laugh at me and think of me as a weak baby…_

"Is something wrong, little one?"  
"Y-yes… N-no…Not exactly…" Rex could feel the heat rise in his face, and he desperately hoped Van wouldn't notice.  
"Can't sleep?"  
Rex looked up to the man and nodded. It wasn't really a lie. He wouldn't be able to sleep even if he wanted to. Besides, there was no need for the man to know that he had had a bad dream. The silence seemed to stretch forever, even though it was just for a few seconds.

Van seemed to freeze. What now? Van Kleiss never had children. Nor did he ever have nephews or nieces or younger siblings to babysit. The child had admitted that he couldn't sleep…but what next? What was he supposed to do about it? Should he perhaps…offer him a stay here? He had read of adults doing that to children who had had a nightmare or were just unable to fall asleep at night. He could vaguely remember that his own mother had done that with him as well…

Sighing, Van smiled up at the small boy at the door and patted the bed beside him. Rex visibly stiffened, and Van wondered if he had done something wrong. Just as he was about to open his mouth to say something, the boy timidly stepped forward. Waiting patiently, Van watched as Rex slowly came closer, and stopped right before the bed. The man watched as Rex seemed to inwardly debate with himself weather it was a good idea or not before the boy finally gave in to his craving for affection and climbed up next to him.

Van lay down and switched the lamp light off, and Rex did the same. Van felt so awkward. He had no idea what to say. For a while, they both just lay there, staring at each other. Van felt so tired, he just wanted to go back to sleep. Before he could even register what he was doing, he was rubbing soothing circles on the boy's arm with his normal hand. At first Rex seemed to stiffen, but then he slowly began to relax. Van's own eye lids were growing heavy, but he ignored the need to sleep in favor of watching Rex fight off sleep himself. Moving his hand from the boy's arm to his head, Van traced the boy's eyebrows and the bridge of his nose just like his own mother used to do to lull him to sleep.

Van resisted the urge to snicker as the boy seemed to give up and let his eyelids close. "…Van?" Rex said, not opening his eyes.  
"hmmm?"  
"I'm sorry…"  
"…for what, little one?"  
"…just in case I said something that bothered you…"  
"You didn't say anything wrong Rex. I was just thinking about things, that's all." Van said, giving the boy a small sad smile. Not that Rex could see it with his eyes closed.  
"Mmmm…" Rex replied. A few seconds later, he was breathing deeply, sleeping like a baby.

Van's smile grew with fondness toward the little boy beside him. Okay, so maybe Rex wasn't so much a pawn anymore. He had to admit it now: Rex just had somehow won him over. He was a cute child. Adorable even. There was just no denying it. Van could see that now. He grew attached to the child, and he was going to make sure that he never found out about what happened to him. He was going to make sure that if the truth was ever discovered, and someone had to be hated by the boy for what had happened to him, it would be Providence.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's note: Hey, guys! I know its been a while since I last updated. Sorry about that. This is some more 'father and son' fluff chapter! hope you like it! reviews are greatly appreciated!**

* * *

**Chapter 14...**

Van Kleiss opened his eyes and blinked them groggily. He was lying on his side, and the room was almost completely dark, lit only by a little bit of light seeping through the cracks between the door and its frame.

something seemed to snuggle against him.

Van Kleiss's eyes widened and he turned around, switched the lamp light on, and looked back at it. There was a lump under the blankets, and the only thing that the blanket didn't cover was the mess of brown hair of whoever-it-was that lay under it. Van cautiously peered over the small, seemingly curled up form. He grabbed the top of the blanket, gently pulling it down to reveal the tan face beneath it. Van Kliess suddenly remembered everything that had happened with the child yesterday and he breathed a sigh of relief. He had actually forgotten that he had even gotten Rex to join the Pack almost a week ago.

Van couldn't help but feel sheer joy for the fact that he had the boy in his grasp, and better, the boy trusted him almost completely.

Rex had his back turned to Van. He was breathing deeply in and out, but his breath suddenly seemed to get caught in his throat and he began to cough. Was the boy sick? Van placed his non-mechanical hand on Rex's forehead as his breathing seemed to return to normal. It did feel just a little warm. Van stiffened as Rex leaned into his cool hand, letting out a small whimper.

Van's brows knitted together in concern and he pulled his hand away, only to hear another louder, seemingly disappointed, whimper. Rex shifted slightly and cracked his eyes open tiredly. "Rex? Are you alright, little one?" Van Kleiss asked, concern evident in his voice. Rex seemed to mumble something so low that Van couldn't even hear it. "Could you say that again, Rex? A little louder this time, I couldn't hear you."  
"…Van, my throat hurts, and my head…" Rex whispered, his voice seeming a little bit raspy. He began to cough again before he could even finish his sentence, and Van awkwardly rubbed his back until he stopped.

Rex groaned and Van couldn't help but think: _Oh, the poor thing…What am I supposed to do now, though?_ _I should at least get him a cloth and some cold water for that fever. _Combing Rex's hair away from his face, Van gave the little boy a small smile.  
"Alright, little one, I'm going to go for a second and get some things to try and bring down your fever, hmm? I'll be right back, okay?"  
Van's heart sank as the child whimpered unhappily and barely managed a nod.

Not daring to waste any time, Van quickly got off the bed and ran over to the kitchen to get himself a bowl. Filling it with water, he went over to one of the cupboards in the kitchen and took a small cloth. _What could have possibly made the boy sick? It wasn't food poisoning; after all, I'm fine._ Van thought as he placed the cloth in the bowl and started walking back to his room. Thinking back, he felt pity for the boy. There was a small gust of wind yesterday, so that was probably why he was sick now. The boy must have caught a cold from being out with only a T-shirt and jeans during training, and he had to admit it was a little bit cold that day. Sweating probably didn't help in that situation. Van sighed. He just hoped the child would be too hard to nurse back to health.

It wasn't hard to nurse him when his arm was injured, which was still healing, but was almost gone due to his nanites. He would probably be much better tomorrow_. _Careful not to drop the bowl, he opened the door and walked in. Van's heart began to beat faster when he noticed that there was no longer a lump under the covers. In fact, the covers seemed to be all jumbled up as if the boy had left in a hurry.

Van didn't really know why, but he felt himself starting to panic. Why was that? Surely the child was alright. Did all parents feel this way when their children went missing while sick?

…_Oh God, did I just think of myself as a __**parent?!**_

Van Kleiss shook his head. No he was not a parent. Not even anywhere _near_ a guardian. That was just insane. Sure, he admitted to himself that he had gotten himself attached to the child – He was an adorable child, after all – but thinking of himself as a parent or guardian was just not possible.

Shoving that thought to the farthest corner of his mind, he decided to set the bowl down on the bedside table to the right of the bed. Before he could leave the room to go look for the child, he heard something coming from the small bathroom to the right of the room. it sounded like vomiting. Van Kleiss knocked on the door twice. "Rex? I'm coming in, alright?" He asked, knowing that the poor child would probably be unable to answer. The child seemed to stop while he was talking, though, and groaned. "mhm…" He hummed weakly.

Van Kliess opened the door to the bathroom and found the poor boy crouching on the floor, his head over the toilet. From the look of it, he had probably thrown up yesterday's dinner. He was trembling violently, but wouldn't move, as if afraid that he'd accidently vomit on the floor if he did. Van was sure that the boy was either shaking like that because he was feeling very weak, or because the floor felt cold to him. Maybe even both.

Van knelt down beside him and rubbed his back awkwardly, trying to make it as soothing as possible. The smell was terrible, and Van could only imagine how much worse it might feel to be sick while keeping your face over such vile stuff. Staring down at it probably wasn't helping at all either.

"Rex, do you have any more you need to get out, or are you done?" Van gently asked.  
"I-I don't know…I think so…" Rex said. He still didn't move from his spot though.  
"Come then, little one. We need to get you warm so that you don't feel worse later." After waiting a little bit just in case.  
"B-but what if I need to throw up again?" Rex whined weakly, making Van's heart ache for him.  
"I'll get you a bag, okay, little one?" Not waiting for an answer, Van helped Rex get up. The child seemed so weak that he swayed dangerously on his feet, and Van decided to just carry him back to the bed instead.

Van set him down and covered him with the blankets again, then took the cloth from the bowl of water, squeezed the excess water out of it, and put it on his forehead. He then hurried to the closet of his room and came back with a bag. Van brought a chair closer to the right side of the bed and sat down. He stroked the boy's hair back and sighed. This was definitely worse than a common cold. Van felt sorry for the poor child.

Van combed Rex's hair back with his fingers again, and the child seemed to slowly drift back to sleep. "That's good, little one. Just go back to sleep…" Van whispered as Rex finally let his eyes close. Van sighed. He was going to have to get someone to look after him as he worked in the castle. Maybe one of the EVO nurses in the infirmary of the castle? Stroking Rex's hair one more time, he got up and left the room.

Van walked down the hall, descended the stairs and went through the door in between the two stair cases leading to the ballroom. There, many EVOs were already there, waiting to give him the status reports on everything that was happening within the castle from food to EVO's jobs, to new EVOs joining the Pack, etc. Van ordered them to wait for him as he made his way past them and headed to the lab, which had a door leading to the infirmary.

There were few nurse and doctor EVOs within the castle. Calling one of the nurses, he explained what had gone on with Rex, then ordered her to go to his room to take care of Rex there. Nodding quickly, she took a container of medicine and left. Sighing again, Van walked back to the ballroom, sat down in his stone throne, and got to work, listening and deciding what should be done about each problem that the EVOs told him of.

Rex woke up with a start when a felt another cold wet cloth being placed on his forehead. He groaned and looked up to find a green, scaly woman sitting one a chair beside him. She had big, pitch black eyes that made her look like an alien, but other than that, she looked mostly human with long black hair that rested on her shoulders. She smiled down kindly at Rex and slipped her right arm under his shoulders, tilting him up just a little. Rex certainly needed it. He felt so weak that he could barely move on his own. It was almost as bad as when he was injured in that car accident, but not as painful.

She pressed something against his lips, and Rex pulled away to look down. She had a pill in her hand. Rex squirmed, weakly pushing her hand away. He had seen people take pills before, and they almost always ended up high. What was worse was that they kept asking for more, and if they didn't get it, they would beg and do anything for it, including stealing and killing. Oh how many times he had seen Quarry's evil smile and laughter as he watched one or two beg at his feet. That was why he always refused to take pills or any other kind of drugs. The fact that the person giving it to him was a stranger did not help.

Rex desperately looked around. He wanted to call for help but feared that if he opened his mouth, the EVO woman would shove it in. He probably couldn't anyway because of how bad his throat felt. As he looked around him he noticed that he was still in Van's room, but Van wasn't around. Rex began to panic, and he tried pushing her away. It was like all his strength was nothing at all to her. She just pressed the pill to his lips again. "Do not worry, it will help your fever go away." She said with an accent he did not recognize.

He just shook his head, and tried pushing her away again, but regretted it as the world seemed to spin around him. He kept his mouth shut and closed his eyes for half a minute before lifting the blankets from over him and attempting to get out of bed. The woman gasped as he pitched forward and she failed to catch him. Rex hit the floor face first, and his head hurt even more. Groaning, he got up and stood, wobbling on his feet. The woman grabbed onto him and helped him stay standing. She began to lead him back to the bed, but Rex shook his head again, carefully this time, and took a step forward instead. "Little boy, you are of no condition to move around castle like this." She says, missing the 'the' in the sentence.

Rex ignored her and kept walking towards the door. He was extremely slow, taking one step at a time. He had no idea why the woman was helping him. Maybe he had misjudged her, but he wasn't about to take that pill that she had tried to give him. Living on the streets had taught him to trust as little amount of people as possible. True, he somewhat trusted Van, but Van had never given him pills or anything that could possibly be addictive…well, accept for the awesome food served every day by the EVO chefs of the castle.

What would usually take 2 minutes to get to the ballroom was taking so much longer than that just to get to the door that was the exit of the hallway. The woman had been protesting the whole time as she helped him walk, but Rex continued to ignore her. He walked out of the open door and stood at the top of the stairs before he slowly placed a foot on the first one below him…

**At the same time…**

Van sighed once again. Currently, the head chef was talking to him about the shortage of food and the need to stalk back up if they were going to have enough to feed all the EVOs for the next few weeks. Van was only half listening. He knew that the topic was pretty important, but he just couldn't get himself to focus. All he could think about was the sick child waiting for him in his room. He only hoped that Rex wasn't in too much pain. A week ago, he wouldn't have cared. In fact, he would have _hoped_ he was in pain, but not now. Not after he saw how innocent and kind Rex could be.

He suddenly heard a small cough, and looked up. Van gasped when he saw that Rex was slowly – painfully slowly – walking towards him step by step. The nurse that he had sent earlier was helping him stay up by keeping a hold of him from under his left arm, carful of his still-healing injury.

Van felt his blood boil. He had sent the nurse to help him get better, not to _half drag him_ down here! He thought that he had seen her medical licence before letting her work as a nurse in the castle, and wondered if it had been a fake. Rex stopped in front of Van's chair and Van, without thinking, lifted him up and settled him in his lap, letting him lie in the crook of his normal right arm. The nurse should have considered herself lucky, too, because if he wasn't weighed down by the poor sick boy, he probably would have gotten up and slapped her in the face.

"What on earth is the meaning of this?! I sent you up there to take care of him!" He yelled, making her cringe. Putting her hands up in panic, she began to stutter. "I-I am sorry, master, but he refused to stay in bed! He would not take his medicine, and when I tried to make him lie down again, he did not let me and kept walking!" She squeaked, her voice shaking.  
"Oh, so now you're blaming it on – "  
"Van…" Rex squeaked, grabbing a fistful of his striped shirt and weakly tugging it. "…'m sorry, Van…'s my fault, she didn' do 'nythin'" Rex said, his voice raspy and his words slurring. Van looked down at Rex and his chest tightened as he saw the tears in the boy's eyes as he coughed.

Van's brows knit, and with his normal arm occupied, he lowered his head and placed his cheek on Rex's forehead to feel his temperature. Pulling away, Van frowned. The boy's fever was worse than before, but only by a little. Van looked back up at the nurse and told her to get him the medicine that Rex was supposed to take and a glass of water. She nodded her head feverishly and ran out of the ballroom to follow the order. Van then sighed deeply, turned to the rest of the EVOs and continued his work, waiting for the nurse to come back.

If he wasn't so sick, Rex would have refused to stay in Van's lap, even if it felt quite good, actually. He had never felt so safe in his life (or at least, he thought he didn't), and he liked it. True, being sick was awful, but he could consider it a good thing right now, since he now had the excuse to stay like this without being considered a baby. Rex felt so _tired_. His eyes drifted closed as he listened to Van's talking, resting his head against the man's chest.

Van felt Rex snuggling in his arms and froze in the middle of his sentence. He looked down again to find Rex falling asleep. His tan cheeks were flushed because of his fever. Van needed him to be awake to take the pill that the nurse went to get, but the child just seemed so tired…and…_Oh, just look at that cute little face…No, stop it! You're working right now!_

Van shook his head and tried to concentrate on what he was saying to the EVOs before him, but his mind kept wandering back to the sick child in his arms. He _really _needed the child to be awake to take the medicine. Van looked down at Rex once more as the EVOs continued to speak to him, not really listening to what they were saying. _Oh, just leave him until the nurse gets back, then wake him. Look at him! Do you really want to wake him up now?_ Van shook his head with a small smile on his face.

Van directed his attention back to his work and finished planning for the food issue before turning to the rest of the EVOs and telling them that he would look into everything else tomorrow. Van watched the sleeping boy in his arms until the nurse returned with the medicine and a cup of water. He was a little disappointed that he had to wake poor Rex, but he sucked it up and did it anyway. Van patted Rex's arm gently with his mechanical hand, whispering his name, and making the boy stir. Rex groaned, not wanting to get up when he felt so terrible and yet so at peace.

"come on, little one, just take the pill and then go back to sleep, okay?"  
"…'n wanna…" Rex moaned, though about the pill or about getting up, Van Kleiss didn't know.  
"Rex…"  
"_mmmm…_" Rex moaned, his face scrunching up. He snuggled against Van's chest some more and the man felt so warm and bubbly inside. Van pushed the feeling aside and tried to focus on the matter at hand.  
"Alright. If you get up and take the pill right now, I'll cut your grounding short and I'll take you want outside with us tomorrow, okay?"

Rex's eyes shot wide open at that, and he _tried _to focus his eyes on Van's face with difficulty. "r-really…?" Rex squeaked, not seeming to believe whether he actually heard that, or if he was just imagining it.  
Van chuckled. "Of course. I'm a man of my word, Rex."  
Rex seemed to stare through him, thinking of his options. "…are you sure it won' make me crazy…?" He finally croaked.  
Van blinked. "…crazy?"  
Rex weakly nodded. "you know…make me want more and stuff…"

Van's eyes widened in alarm. The child was talking about _drugs_! He was afraid to become addicted to something! _Oh, Rex…just how much of the darkness of the world have you seen?_  
Van noticed that he had spaced out for a few seconds before finally answering. "N…No, Rex, of course not! I would never do something like that to you." _Well actually that's a good idea to trap someone else, but not you. Never you…not anymore…_  
Rex seemed to try and focus on Van's eyes to make sure that he was telling the truth. The world just didn't want to stop spinning around him, however, and he gave up. Closing his eyes, he nodded weakly.

Van smiled softly down at the boy and adjusted him and his arms to tilt him up just a little bit. The nurse opened up the bottle and let a pill tumble out into her hand before giving it to Van. She picked up the glass of water from the left arm of Van's chair and waited for Rex to take it. Blinking his eyes blurrily, Rex sluggishly took the pill from Van's metal hand and slowly put it in his mouth. Van took the glass and pressed it to the boy's lips, holding it for him as he drank.

"Slow down, little one. You'll throw it all up if you drink it too fast." Van said, pulling it away to stop the poor boy.  
"_mmm…"_ Rex whined, seeming to want more of the refreshing liquid. The child must have been seriously thirsty…or maybe…  
"Did he eat anything before you tried giving him the pill?" Van asked, keeping the glass away from the boy's lips.  
"No, master. I was going to get him some food right after he took it."  
Van nodded. Just as he had thought, the child wanted to drink more to settle some of his hunger.  
"Alright. Go get something for him, then. I don't want his stomach to start aching from taking the medicine on an empty stomach. Bring it up to my room." Van ignored the irritated moan that came from the boy.

The nurse nodded and hurried towards the kitchen. Van made sure he had a good grip on Rex before getting up from his chair and walking back up to his room. Van set him down once again on the soft bed and tucked him in, then sat down next to him on the chair. Van noticed the cloth that he was using to cool Rex's head on the pillow beside his head and dunked it into the bowl of freezing water that was still on the bedside table. After squeezing all the excess water out of it again, he placed it back on Rex's forehead.

The child shivered and weakly brought a hand up to pull it off. Van stopped him from doing that and pushed his hand away from it. "No, little one. Don't do that."  
"But it's too cold…"  
"I know, but we need to keep it there until your temperature cools down a little bit."  
Rex pouted unhappily, but left it at that. Van didn't really know whether he should sigh or laugh at his expression.

A few minutes later, the nurse came in with a tray of food. The nurse placed the tray next to the bowl of water on the bedside table before taking the pillows beside Rex and under his head and propping them up against the backboard of the bed. They helped Rex sit up and lean back on them, almost like when he was injured in that car crash, and Van dismissed the nurse, not really trusting her to take care of the child anymore.

Van took the trey and placed it on Rex's lap. On it, there was a plate of mashed potatoes with a little bit of olive oil on the top, some miso soup, and a glass of water. Rex clutched his stomach and groaned. He closed his eyes, trying to keep his mind away from the food in front of him. His stomach was aching, and it felt as if the acid inside it was eating him inside out, but at the same time, he felt that if he so much as looked at the food, he'd through up again.

"Rex, you need to eat. Your stomach will feel worse if you don't." Van said.  
"But I don' wanna…I'll throw up again…" Rex replied, shaking his head without opening his eyes.  
Van sighed and Rex opened his eyes to look at him. Van picked up the spoon, scooped up some mashed potatoes, and held it in front of Rex. The boy grimaced and pulled back from the spoon as if it held poison, lifting his hand to push it away.

Van just lowered Rex's hand with his normal one and continued to bring it closer to his mouth.  
"Rex, take it. Don't you want to get better?"  
"ughhhh…" Rex whined, still unwilling to eat.  
"Fine. If you don't eat, and let me take care of you until you get better, then I won't cut the grounding short, and I won't take you outside tomorrow." Van said, pulling it away.  
"…noooo…" Rex whined, pouting.  
"Will you eat, then?"  
Rex seemed to think about it a little bit, then reluctantly nodded his head. Van couldn't help but chuckle. The child just _really_ wanted to go outside. That was fine. He was a good kid for the three days that he was grounded anyway. Today was the fourth day, so pretty much half of the duration had been spent.

Rex half-heartedly opened his mouth and allowed Van to feed him, knowing that he'd probably spill all the food on himself anyway because of how weak he felt. He hated feeling weak. After a few bites, Rex pulled back again and shook his head. He felt sick to his stomach. Looking around him quickly, he spotted the bag that Van had brought him before and quickly snatched it, bringing it up to his mouth.

Alarmed, Van quickly put the spoon down onto the tray and began rubbing the boy's back. Rex gagged a little, but mostly seemed to be trying to keep the food in his stomach. Not for the first time today, Van felt so sorry for the poor child. "That's good, little one. Just try to keep it down."  
Rex just swallowed hard and whimpered. He stayed like that for a while, hunched over with his mouth over the bag. After a while of nothing, Van gently pulled the bag away from the boy and helped him lay back down. "Alright, little one. Let's just take a break for now and try to get some more food in you later."

Rex just nodded and closed his eyes, letting Van put the cold wet cloth on his forehead again and comb his hair back with his fingers. Van sighed. _Well…at least he got something in his system…_He thought. Within minutes, Rex's breathing slowed and Van noticed that he had fallen asleep again.

Throughout the day, Rex kept on waking up and falling asleep again within an hour or so from waking. Van made sure to feed him again, give him the medicine when enough time had passed, and keep him hydrated and warm. At one point, Rex woke up with a start and threw up on the floor, not able to stop himself to get the bag that Van had newly brought first. Unfortunately, he accidently spilled some on the sheets of the bed, too. Not wanting to leave the child again even for a second – especially now that he was awake – he decided to change the bedspread and covers himself. He had to lift Rex and sit him down on the chair, change them quickly, then lay him back down on the bed.

Rex apologized numerously, even when Van had told him that it wasn't his fault several times. It was night now, and time to go to bed. Rex had fallen asleep once more, and Van changed and slipped under the covers next to the child as quietly as possible. Just as he lay down, however, a thunder storm seemed to begin. Rex jumped upon hearing it and gasped. "Shhhh, little one, I'm right here." Van whispered, combing Rex's hair back with his non-mechanical fingers. Rex immediately calmed down and sighed. A clap of thunder sounded again and he curled into himself just a little.

Van was surprised that there even was thunder outside in this pocket dimension, but was even more surprised that Rex was afraid of it. But then he thought it was understandable, since Rex was homeless for some time after the Event. Even if he might have forgotten much of his life from before he became Quarry's little lieutenant, the instinct to fear such weather outside would have stuck. Before he could stop himself, Van shifted closer to the boy, lifted his pillow and slipped his mechanical arm under it, then enveloped him in a hug. Rex stiffened a little, but then snuggled deeper into the warmth, returning the hug and closing his eyes.

Rex was grateful that the man had stayed by him to take care of him while he was sick. _Van…I wish you were my Dad…_Rex thought. Van seemed to stiffen, and he wondered whether he had actually said that out loud or something. Rex was surprised when he felt something cool on his overheated forehead, and he opened his eyes. His eyes widened as he realized that Van had actually gave him a kiss on the head. "sleep, little one, you're tired. You'll feel better in the morning…" Was all the man said. Rex closed his eyes again, trying to do as Van told him. His heart was beating just a little faster now. He had listened to other EVO kids telling him about their mothers and fathers giving them goodnight kisses, and always wondered what it must have felt like. Well now he knew, and it felt…wonderful…

As time passed, Van could feel Rex flinch just a little when thunder stuck, but slowly they seemed to happen less and less until the boy fell asleep. Van listened to his soft snores and closed his eyes, letting them become the lullaby that put him to sleep as well. Van smiled as he let sleep take him. The child must have not meant to say what he did out loud. It didn't matter though. Van was just so glad that he did. He kept repeating it in his head until he fell asleep completely _'Van, I wish you were my Dad'_…oh how wonderful that sounded…


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Notes: Yey! finally updated! I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 15…**

Van opened his eyes and looked down at the small boy in his arms. Rex looked so peaceful. He felt his forehead, and was pleased to find that the fever had gone away. Van wanted to get up, but decided not to risk waking the child who was using his mechanical-arm as an extra pillow. He decided to just lay there until Rex woke up.

About 10 minutes later, Rex opened his eyes and yawned, stretching himself out. Van couldn't help but smile at the way he looked. Rex rubbed his eyes and blinked up at him, giving him a small smile. "morning…" Rex said, his voice still a little raspy. Rex cleared his throat and slowly sat up. He was relieved that he didn't seem to have a head ache or feel dizzy today. "Good morning, Rex." Van replied, sitting up as well. Van got up and went to use the bathroom. Rex decided to go to his room and change his cloths. After he finished, he used his own bathroom, washed his face, and brushed his teeth. Remembering his agreement with Van, Rex couldn't help but bounce a little on his heels. He was finally going to go _outside_ today! This was going to be so cool! Rex ran back to Van's room and almost ran into the man as he came out the door. The man was now dressed in his usual cloths.

"Oops! Sorry, Van." Rex said, rubbing the back of his neck.  
"That's quite alright, little one. I'm glad you seem to be feeling better today."  
"Yeah. Hey, Van…You remember…you know…what you promised me yesterday?" Rex asked timidly, suddenly remembering that they had both woken up just a few minutes ago.  
Van chuckled, placing a hand on Rex's shoulder. "Yes, little one, I remember."  
"When are we going? _Where_ are we going?" Rex asked eagerly.  
Van laughed, ruffling the bouncing boy's hair. "Patience, little one. Right now, we go eat breakfast, then I'll tell you."

Rex beamed and ran off to the mess hall, shouting over his shoulder for him to hurry up. Van laughed and shook his head at the adorable child's antics, then kept walking towards the mess hall after him, a little too lazy to run so early in the morning. Where the child got the energy was beyond him.

Rex got to the mess hall first, of course, and sat down. Biowolf was already there, and so were Scalamander and Breach. Rex and Biowolf glared at each other, but Rex broke his stare as Van came to sit beside him. The EVO chefs brought in the food, and they all started eating. After a bit of silence as they ate, Van finally striated up in his chair and politely cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. Once he made sure that the main Pack members were all listening, he started to speak. "Alright everyone, I decided to let Rex join us in our little…outing today because he showed good behavior within this week."  
At this, Rex grinned.  
"So, right now, we are eating some of the last of the food we have in the castle. Thus, we need to get more. It's a very small heist, but an important one, anyway." Van said, looking at each of the EVOs before him. It was decided that, as stupid as it sounded, they were going to rob one of the Whole Foods grocery stores in America. _Hey, EVOs gotta eat…_Rex thought. He could easily understand the need to steal food to survive, and apparently, the store they were going to rob was full to the brim of it.

Rex was so excited, he bounced his leg up and down in his seat. He just wanted to go outside so badly. It felt like forever since he was outside. Also, he had only gotten to go on a mission with Van once, and that was the Providence thing. Rex resisted the urge to shudder. He didn't want to think about that now. _Just focus on now…_He reminded himself.

Rex, Van, and the rest of the pack quickly finished their food and got up. It was agreed that they would wait until night time to go. Until then, Rex was going to have to find himself some things to do. After checking if it was still windy outside and finding it quite nice today, Van promised him that he would let him train after he finished the work that he had left yesterday. Since there was nothing much to do other than play videogames all day, Rex decided to sit beside him and watch him work instead.

Van found himself unable to imagine the day going by without Rex anymore. The child was such a fascinating creature, always so innocent and energetic. Now, however, Van was finding it very hard to concentrate on the EVOs talking to him. His mind kept wandering back to last night and what the boy beside him had said. **Van…I wish you were my Dad…**Every time that sentence ran through his head, his heart seemed to skip a beat or two. Having the boy sitting beside him on the arm of his stone chair didn't really help his concentration at all.

The EVO before him right now seemed to notice this as well. "Master, are you alright? You seem distracted…"  
Van looked up. "Hm? Oh!" He sighed, shaking his head. "Yes, yes, I believe I need a break…" Van said, pinching the bridge of his nose with his normal hand. "Van? Are you okay?" Rex asked, putting a hand on Van's shoulder. Van's heart skipped a beat at the contact and looked up and smiled at the boy.

"Yes, I'm fine, little one…you know, I'm bored. How about we do a little bit of training now, hm?"  
Rex brightened and he jumped off the chair and tugged at the man's mechanical hand, hurrying as if he wanted to start before Van could change his mind or something. Van just laughed and allowed the excited child to lead him – or half drag him – outside, leaving all the EVOs behind. "I'll be back in an hour!" Van called over his shoulder, since Rex refused to let him stop walking to look back at them.

Finally stopping when they reached the garden, Rex turned around and waited for Van to give him the ball. Van smiled and shook his head. "Today will be a little different, Rex. Like before, you will have to find the flag hidden in the garden, but you will also need to keep out of the sight of the guards." Rex lowered his outstretched hand, his eyes wide with adorable curiosity. "I'm going to send out EVO troops to keep a lookout for you all over the garden. You need to locate the flag, sneak over to it, take it from its pole and come back here. Don't get tagged by one of the guards, or you lose, okay? This time, I won't be helping them, I'll just be watching from above."

Rex nodded excitedly soaking up the rules like a dry sponge. _He loves challenges…_Van thought proudly. "Alright then. Guards!" Van called, turning towards the door. Soon enough, some of the guards came out, and Van sent them inside to spread out in the garden. There were around 30 of them. Van made Rex wait for around five minutes. "The troops are already inside the woods, so GO!" Rex quickly jumped around and ran in between the trees and bushes, leaving Van to summon a vine from the ground to lift him up like last time.

Van watched the boy as he made his way between the branches and bushes quickly for a while and then began to slow down and treed more carefully. Just on time, too because if he had ran any further, he would have found himself face to face with one of the EVO troops roaming the area there. Van chuckled as the boy seemed to catch sight of the EVO and quickly duck behind a bush.

Now that he was up here, he could finally sit in the peace and quiet and think.

Van watched the child from his perch on the vine as he thought of what he should do about what the child had told him yesterday night. Sure, he could just pretend that he had never heard what he had said, after all, he did have a high fever and probably wasn't even aware of saying such a thing out loud.

But Van didn't want to just leave it at that…  
The child was adorable and smart, and kind, and innocent, and _his._  
_He's __**my**__ little one…_Van thought. Van realized that now he wasn't just looking forward to spending time with the child every day, but also, he felt strange if the child _wasn't_ near him or in his sight at all times. It had only been a week and a half since Rex became a Pack member and already he had Van snared in his trap of…of…of adorableness, for lack of a better word!

Van shook his head. And he had really thought that he was the one pulling the strings here. _Hmh…with those puppy dog eyes, I doubt that that would be the case for long._

**Van…I wish you were my Dad…  
Van…I wish you were my Dad…  
Van…I wish you were my Dad…**  
Rex's words kept repeating in his mind like a broken recording, and yet he could never _ever_ get tired of it. Van found himself thinking: What if Rex really was his _son?_ Van had no idea what to think of that. Sure, it was sweet that Rex would wish such a thing, but did Van really feel the same? He was after all, _using_ the child. Its not like he still felt like he was strictly a pawn, but he was still just _using _him.

Van watched as Rex seemed to look down at an EVO below him, waiting for him to pass. When the EVO seemed to stay there, though, Rex took what seemed to be a pinecone from one of the braches and threw it away from him, making the EVO chase after the sound of the rustling leaves. Taking his chance, Rex dropped down from the tree and hurried away towards the flag that he must have spotted while up there.

The boy succeeded in avoiding most of the EVOs so far. Van Kleiss couldn't help but feel a bit of pride swell in his chest. Why, he couldn't really figure out. He hadn't been the one to teach him the skills he was presenting now in front of him. Maybe it was because Rex was his now. His little follower – he could no longer bring himself to call him a pawn anymore. Rex was now waiting in another tree as he waited for a chance to finally swoop down, take the flag from its pole in front of him, and run for it. Van Kliess caught sight of an EVO beside the boy. He was a big one, too, with a scaly humanoid body from head to waist, and a tale where his legs should have been, making him look more like a snake. He was creeping up on his little follower, like a predator would his prey.

Rex seemed to have no idea, looking down at the rest of the EVOs below him as the other one crept behind him and reached out an arm. Van was at the edge of his seat now, silently screaming for Rex to look out. If the EVO touched him, then he would be tagged, and Rex would lose. _Oh, and he is __**so**__ close!_

Fully expecting Rex to lose now, Van was relieved when the boy jumped down from the tree, and the EVO guard missed him by a second. Van almost fist pumped, grinning from ear to ear. _That's my little one!_ Rex jogged up to the flag, ripped it off its pole and made his way back to the tree he had just jumped down from as quietly as he could.

Just then, the humanoid-snake EVO jumped down from the tree and landed right in front of him, hissing loud enough for the other EVOs to hear. Rex jumped, but quickly ran around the EVO and started running towards the starting point, the other EVOs hot on his tail. Rex twisted and turned around the trees as he tried his hardest to lose the EVOs chasing him, but as soon as he lost a group of them, another seemed to find him every time.

Van peeled his eyes away from the child for a few seconds and noticed that he was actually biting his nails. Hadn't he quit that habit years ago? Shaking his head, Van looked down again, searching for the boy. _Ah! There he is! Come on, Rex. Come on…_

Rex finally reached the end of the forest/garden and almost tripped. He whirled around to face the EVOs jogging to a stop behind him, waved the red flag happily in the air and cried "SAFE! I WIN!" Rex was laughing and jumping up and down with such happiness that he didn't even notice Van creeping down on his vine towards him until he flung his arms around him and pulled him onto his lap, making the vine carry them back up. Rex shrieked when Van had caught him and the man laughed.

"heeey. Van, that's so not cool…" Rex pouted, tilting his head up to look at Van's face over him. He was leaning with his back to Van's chest.  
The man just laughed again. "Congratulations, Rex. You actually won this time!"  
Rex beamed at that. Looking at what's in front of him, Rex gasped.  
"What? Is there something the matter, little one?"  
"Huh? No, it's just…it looks amazing from up here!"

Van looked down and understood what the boy was talking about, feeling surprised that he had never really noticed until now. Below them, the small forest indeed did look beautiful, the leaves of the tall trees mixed with splotches of color coming from the flowers below them. An awkward silence settled over them. Rex felt kind of embarrassed that he was still sitting in Van's lap, though it did feel nice.

Van raised his hand and pulled out a pocket watch from his inside jacket pocket. He sighed and ordered the vine to lower them down onto the ground. "Are you going to train me some more?" Rex asked, seeming to bounce on his feet with renewed energy.  
"Sorry, little one. The hour is up. I need to go back inside and continue working."  
"Aw, come on! Please?"  
"Maybe tomorrow, Rex." Van said, turning his back on him and heading towards the door.  
"But Daaad…" Rex whined, running up to him and grabbing onto his jacket.

Van froze in his tracks. Realized what he had just said, so did Rex.

"u-uh…s-sorry, I didn't mean…" Rex let go of his jacket, his face beat red, looking down at the ground. Van turned and gaped at the child. _Did he just…did he just call me…_  
not knowing what to say, Van just stared for a few seconds. He wanted to say something, but…what was he supposed to say? Shaking his head, he closed his mouth and did the only thing he could think of.

He walked away.

Rex watched him go. He didn't know what he was really expecting. Maybe he wanted Van to tell him that it was okay, or tell him that he wanted him as a son too, or…something…_anything at all._ But no. He just said nothing and walked away. _You're an idiot, Rex…_Rex scolded himself. He sure felt like an idiot because of that slip-up. Rex followed him silently back into the ballroom, where they noticed the EVOs filing back in.

Rex watched as the man made his way to his seat, looking disoriented and distracted. Was the man mad at him? Did he feel awkward? Was it wrong for him to call him 'Dad'? He could think of nothing to say to Van to make things better. Rex absentmindedly followed him to his stone chair until Van turned to him.

"Rex, I know you want to stay here with me, but maybe it's best if you go do something else while I work, okay?" Van said as gently as possible, not wanting to hurt the boy's feelings or give him the wrong idea. He didn't want Rex to think that he was trying to avoid him, but he was _positive_ that he would be unable to concentrate with Rex beside him, not to mention what he just said added to what he already let slip yesterday night.

His gentleness didn't seem to pay off, however, since Rex's eyes widened in emotional pain right when the words left his mouth. Van was going to open his mouth to take it back or say something to help fix things, but Rex quickly turned his eyes away, nodded feverishly, and ran off. Van closed his mouth, his hand subconsciously reaching out to the boy running away. If he had seen the tears starting to form in Rex's eyes as he ran, he probably would have stopped him…

Rex burst into his room and threw himself onto the bed, burying his face in his pillow as if to try and seal the tears in his eyes to prevent them from falling. He scolded himself for wanting Van to be his father so bad. Sure the man was nice, but surely he didn't want to be a father. Besides, it was only a week. Just a week since he first came here, and even though Van said he had been here longer, it shouldn't have counted because he certainly couldn't remember it.

Somehow, Rex managed to hold in the tears and took a deep breath, closing his eyes and snuggling into his pillow. Maybe it was best if he just took a nap until it was time to go. Besides, he was tired from training. Soon enough, Rex fell into an uneasy sleep.

**Later…**

Van Kliess finished off with his work and got up from his chair. After all of the EVOs had finally left, the place was completely quiet. Quiet usually meant that Rex wasn't around.

He hated it.

Why did he hate it, though? Back before Rex came, he used to love the quiet. It gave him a chance to invent new things without being interrupted. But there's the difference. That was _before_ Rex became a member of the Pack. Now, he is one, and with his arrival, the quiet was gone – at least around Van Kleiss anyway, since the boy was almost always hanging around him. Sure he had admitted that he was getting attached to the boy two days ago, but maybe he was getting a bit too attached…

Van sighed and got up. It was almost time to go, anyway, and he might as well gather Rex and the others. Plus, he needed to make sure the boy hadn't taken his request for him to leave personally. Van made his way to the hall leading to the main Pack members' rooms and walked over to Rex's. The door was open just a slit, and he decided to peek through. Hopefully the boy would be playing one of his video games without feeling bothered or sad about anything. When he looked inside though, the boy was not playing video games, he was fast asleep on his belly, with a face towards the wall, away from his sight.

Van wondered whether he should just leave the boy to sleep a little longer or not. When he heard a small whimper, he decided to go with the latter – it was better to make sure that the boy would be wide awake when it was time to go. Van sat next to the boy on the bed, placing a hand on his head and stroking his hair back from his face. "Rex? Rex, little one…you need to wake up now." Van gently whispered, not willing to startle the child. Rex just whimpered some more, shifting a little bit without waking.

"Rex?" Van gently shook him.  
"hmmm?" Rex hummed, irritated.  
Van chuckled a little. "Get up, little one, we're going in an hour…"  
Rex sniffed and Van frowned. He bent over the child to try and get a glimpse of his face, but Rex buried it in the pillow. Knowing what that meant, Van gently turned him around just as he did the first time Rex had tried to hide his face from him.

The boy didn't look at him, staring at the wall he had just turned away from like it was one of the most interesting things in the world, and lifting a hand in an effort to keep his face hidden. Even when Van tried to move himself into the child's view, he would turn his head away and sniff again. Finally, Van gently grabbed Rex's hand in his own mechanical one and gently took the boy's chin in the other and made him look at him. The look in the child's eyes could have made him melt then and there, and Van had to struggle to keep himself upright.

Rex looked so sad. Probably the saddest he had ever seen him so far. His face seemed to have old tear tracks only noticeable from the extra light that hit his face from the lamp on his bedside table. The boy either cried before, or while he was asleep…

Van was suddenly hit with a terrible force of guilt that seemed to squeeze his heart painfully. "Oh, little one! Were you crying? Why?" Van whispered, his eyes wide. Van didn't need to ask. He already knew.  
Rex sniffed and wiped at his face. "N-no reason…" He said, swearing at himself on the inside. Hadn't he kept himself from crying before he fell asleep?  
"Rex, I am so sorry, little one, I never intended to hurt you. I was just trying to concentrate on my work…"  
Rex fell silent and looked away for a few minutes before turning his head back to face Van and asked him. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Van only now realized how unprepared he was to face Rex about this particular subject. He had no idea how to answer the question, had no idea what to say. "I…um…"  
Rex looked away and shut his eyes. He covered them with his hands and his lips pressed together into a thin line as he was no longer able to keep the rest of the tears from falling. "I-I'm sorry…I didn't mean to say that – back in the garden I mean – it just slipped and…now I look totally stupid and I don't even know why I'm crying, and – "

Rex stopped babbling when he felt Van cup a cheek in his hand. Not expecting that, he removed his hands from over his eyes and looked at Van. The man was leaning a little bit forward, his hair covering more of his face, and he was smiling sadly down at Rex. "No, little one. Don't think that you were wrong or stupid for saying that or crying. I was wrong for making it look like I was angry at you or something. What you said was just a slip up. It doesn't matter…" Van said.

But it _did_ matter.

It mattered _so much_. Van just didn't know what to think about it, or what to say about it.

Rex seemed unconvinced or wanting more, but he only nodded, and Van was happy that he just left it at that. The boy wiped his tears away and sat up on the bed. Van got up to allow the boy some room to swing his legs off the bed and get up, then watched him as he silently walked out the door. _He's so sensitive…_Van thought, actually feeling quite worried for the boy.

Van Kleiss followed Rex out of the room. "Rex…"  
The boy turned to look at the man. "yeah?" He said, a sniffle barely audible.  
"Do you mind telling the others to get ready? Tell them to meet me in the lab in an hour, alright?"  
Rex nodded, wiping his face some more to make sure that it was no longer wet, then turned to do as he was asked as Van walked away.

This was the first time he ever felt this way so it kind of caught him off guard, but Van almost wanted to kick himself. How was it even possible for a small boy, whom he never really cared about a week and a half ago, to make him want to do such a thing anyway? Van shook his head. He decided to work on something in his lab to distract himself from thinking of the boy.

**An hour later…**

Van was working on a small mechanical arm. It was a miniature replica of his own. Sure it wasn't an important project to be working on at all, but it was capable of distracting him from thoughts of the boy. There was a knock on the door, and Van turned from his work, calling for whoever-it-was to come in. Rex stuck his head out from the slightly open door, then proceeded to enter. Breach, Scalamander, and Biowolf soon followed.

Getting up, Van sighed when he noticed that the boy seemed to be looking everywhere but towards him. Biowolf had prepared all of the EVOs that they were to take with them, and informed Van Kleiss that they were all waiting in the ballroom. Him and the other Pack members followed their leader to the ballroom, and when they got there, Van walked among the crowd and stood before his stone chair, calling for their attention.

"Tonight we'll be collecting food as we do every month or so. You are to leave nothing edible, and take everything. Rex will go in first, and will be teleported to the security room of the building. While in there he will hack into the security cameras of the building and loop their footage so that it would appear that no one had been there all night. After he is done, Breach will spread the word. You ten – " He said, gesturing to a group of EVOs directly in front of him " – will patrol the inside of the building to make sure that there is no one there, just in case. You will take two minutes to complete your patrol and report back. Only then are the rest of us to enter and start taking the food in the store and bringing it back here. Is that understood?" Van explained.

The EVOs all nodded and Van looked over to Rex, who was also nodding, but looked away when he noticed Van turn his attention to him. Van inwardly sighed. He was going to have to make up for what happened later. He didn't feel comfortable at all with the boy looking so awkward around him. Nodding back at the other EVOs, Van signalled Breach to open a portal, and watched as Rex walked though it with her.

Rex walked out of the portal to find himself in a room with several monitors showing footages from cameras situated all around the large store. Rex decided to get this over with as quickly as possible and placed his hands on one of the keyboards. Rex watched as blue lines spread from his hands to the keyboard and ordered the footage to keep looping, yet keep the recorded time going as if it weren't. Maybe this morning he was excited to go on a mission with Van again, but now he just wasn't feeling it. Making sure that what he ordered was being done one last time, he turned to Breach and nodded to her, letting her know that he was done here.

Breach nodded back, and opened another portal. They walked out into the ballroom of the castle, and Rex stood back as she again opened a portal.  
"We're ready…" Breach said, and Rex watched as the ten EVOs that Van had gestured to earlier went through it.

Exactly two minutes later, they returned, confirming that there was no one in the building, and that it was safe to proceed. Van nodded, and waved the other EVOs forward, leading them into a newer, and by far bigger, portal the Breach had just made. Rex closely followed Van as they went through; stopping beside him once they were in the middle of one of the many isles inside the store. Rex looked around and watched for a few minutes as the EVOs around him went up to the shelves and started packing their contents into sacks or lugging them over their shoulders and going back into the portal to deposit them in the storage rooms of the castle.

Feeling awkward just standing their next to Van, Rex decided to go and help. He took one of the sacks from one of the EVOs and started packing canned foods as well, making sure to carefully place them in there. He was afraid he might break one open or something. Once the bag was full he set it down in the storage room of the castle like everyone else and grabbed another sack.

As soon as he passed through the portal again, though, something caught his eye. At the other side of the room, there seemed to be a few shelves of magazines.

**Do you know what year it is?**

Rex tensed, remembering _him_ when they had gone and sabotaged Providence Base. He needed to know what the man was talking about, but…He was scared of looking.

Van cared. he wouldn't erase his memory…Right?

Rex looked over to where the man was standing. He was watching the other EVOs , sometimes telling them what to take and what not to take, but otherwise just making sure that all was going smoothly. He wasn't paying attention to Rex.

Rex looked back at the magazine shelves and curiosity got the better of him. He quietly made his way to them at the far end of the store near the cash registers, and grabbed one. Looking at its cover, he quickly scanned it for the date. There, at the very bottom of the cover, right beside the bar code to the left of the page, it said:

_August 2013_

Rex stared with wide eyes. _No…no that can't be possible…no its 2007! It can't be 2013! Where the HELL did those_ six years go?!

"Rex?"

Rex whirled around, startled by the man who had suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder. Taken aback, Van let go of Rex's shoulder and tilted his head in question. Rex was definitely panicking now.

_That guy…he was right…he was totally right…!_ Rex thought as he stared into the eyes of Van Kleiss, not knowing how he should react…

* * *

**Author's Notes: Yeah, i'm not entirely sure i'm satisfied with this chapter. I found ****_might - _****keyword: ****_might_**** - end up adding a bit more time between chapters, since when i read them again, i kind of felt like it was going a ****_wee bit_**** too fast, but we'll see about that later. I might also edit this chapter, but that's not very likely. I hope you all like this chapter, though, and thanks for being so patient with this story. Reviews are appreciated!**


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